QUARTERLY LABOR MARKET REPORT MACOMB COUNTY Q1 2015
SUMMARY MACOMB COUNTY Q1 2015 DEMAND OVERVIEW The labor force in Macomb County has been slowly increasing for several years but in the last half of 2014 began to decrease. Despite this, overall labor force numbers grew 0.2% in 2014. During 2014 employment averaged 372,420 individuals with an available labor force of 406,223. October 2014 marked a high point in employment with 377,799 individuals in jobs. Employment growth outpaced labor force growth in 2014 resulting in the unemployment rate dropping 1.3 percentage points since 2013. Registered nurses move up two spots to displace heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers as the top posting occupation in Macomb County this quarter with 399 online job ads. Truck drivers move down to second with 383 postings and software developers are third with 355 postings. Postings for mechanical engineers more than doubled, moving this occupation from seventh in Q4 2014 up to fourth in Q1 2015. Total online job postings in Macomb County grew from 9,640 postings in Q4 2014 to 11,737 in Q1 2015, a 22% increase. This is the highest recorded number of job postings since online posting data has been collected (Q1 2011). The clusters analyzed by WIN represent 60.6% of all online job postings in Macomb County. *This report includes top jobs and postings over time highlights for clusters that have made major shifts or movements in the past quarter. The data is updated each quarter based on the clusters with the most noteworthy changes. For complete top jobs lists, educational attainment, and wage information, please see the regional reports or contact WIN's Research Director Colby Cesaro at colby.cesaro@win-semich.org.
TOP JOBS Q1 2015
ANALYSIS Registered nurses moved up two spots to displace tractor-trailer truck drivers as the top posting occupation in Macomb County this quarter with 399 online job ads. Truck drivers moved down to second with 383 postings (down from 413 in Q4 2014) and software developers, applications are third with 355 postings (up from 211). Postings for mechanical engineers more than doubled from 160 to 325, moving this occupation from seventh in Q4 2014 up to fourth in Q1 2015.
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HIGHLIGHTS SKILLED TRADES POSTINGS OVER TIME
ANALYSIS Since Q3 2012, postings for the skilled trades in Macomb County have fluctuated between 400 and 700. Shifting from this trend, this quarter saw a major increase to 836 postings, up from 527 the previous quarter. This is the highest number of postings for the skilled trades since Q1 2012 in Macomb County . Moreover, this cluster’s share of total postings increased from 5.5% in Q4 2014 to 7.1% in Q1 2015.
ENGINEER AND DESIGNER POSTINGS OVER TIME
ANALYSIS For the six previous quarters, postings for engineer & design occupations fluctuated between 800 and 1,000 per quarter, however , Q1 2015 saw postings increase to 1,422, a 75% increase over the 817 postings in Q4 2014. This is the highest recorded number of job postings related to engineering since online posting data has been collected (Q1 2011 ). As a result, the engineer cluster’s share of total postings increased from 8.5% in Q4 2014 to 12.1% in Q1 2015.
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LABOR MARKET OVERVIEW EMPLOYMENT & LABOR FORCE
ANALYSIS The labor force in Macomb County has been slowly increasing for several years but in the last half of 2014 began to decrease. Despite this mid-year drop, overall labor force numbers grew 0.2% in 2014. During 2014 employment averaged 372,420 individuals with an available labor force of 406,223. October 2014 marked a high point in employment with 377,799 individuals in jobs. Employment growth outpaced labor force growth in 2014 resulting in the unemployment rate dropping 1.3 percentage points since 2013, from 9.6% to 8.3%. If trends continue into 2015 then Macomb County’s labor market should continue to strengthen.
TOTAL POSTINGS OVER TIME
ANALYSIS Total online job postings in Macomb County grew from 9,640 postings in Q4 2014 to 11,737 in Q1 2015, a 22% increase. This is not unusual as the county typically experiences a rise in postings between Q4 and Q1. This is the highest recorded number of job postings since online posting data has been collected (Q1 2011 ). The previous record occurred in Q3 2013 (11,325 postings) but this quarter surpassed that margin by 412 online ads.
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POSTING TRENDS BY CLUSTER
ANALYSIS Postings in Macomb County increased between Q4 2014 and Q1 2015 for every cluster analyzed by WIN. Posting growth was greatest for engineers and designers (3.6 percentage points) and least for retail & hospitality (negative 1.8 percentage points). Similar to the WIN region as a whole, retail & hospitality holds the greatest share of postings with 19.5%. Unlike the WIN region, however , IT places fourth out of the five clusters in terms of share of total postings (10% in Macomb County compared to 16% in the region ). Engineers and designers had the greatest increase in share, shifting up 3.6 percentage points to 12.1% and second overall amongst WIN clusters. Skilled trade occupations are in much greater demand in Macomb County (7.1% share) compared to the WIN region (3.5%). The clusters analyzed by WIN represent 60.6% of all online job postings in Macomb County.
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TOP JOBS BY CLUSTER ENGINEER & DESIGNER TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS Mechanical and electrical engineers remain the top two in-demand occupations for this cluster with 160 and 139 postings, respectively. Other top jobs include civil engineers (102 postings) and industrial engineers (88 postings). Online ads for validation engineers quadrupled between Q4 214 and Q1 2015, moving this occupation into the top five with 99 postings .
SKILLED TRADE & TECHNICIAN TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS Postings for computercontrolled machine tool operators, metal and plastic more than doubled between Q4 2014 (67 ads) and Q1 2015 (141 ads). As a result, CNC operators is now the most in-demand skilled trade occupation for Macomb County. First-line supervisors of production and operating workers shifted down one ranking to second (77 postings). Other metal and plastic related top jobs include CNC tool programmers and cutting, punching, and press machine setters, operators and tenders. 6
TOP JOBS BY CLUSTER HEALTH CARE TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS Similar to the rest of the WIN region, registered nurses dominate health care postings in Macomb County for Q1 2015 with 399 postings, a 77% increase. Other top jobs in the cluster include nursing assistants (105 job ads) and medical records and health information technicians (86 job ads). Postings for physical therapists were cut in half between Q4 2014 and Q1 2015, potentially signaling that employers are finding at least some talent to fill open positions.
IT TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS Like the rest of the WIN region, software developers, applications remained the top posting occupation for the IT cluster in Macomb County for Q1 2015. Online ads for this occupation increased from 211 in the previous quarter to 355. Other top posting occupations include business intelligence analysts (118 postings) and computer systems analysts (114 postings).
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