QUARTERLY LABOR MARKET REPORT WAYNE COUNTY Q3 2015
SUMMARY
WAYNE COUNTY Q3 2015 DEMAND OVERVIEW Nine of the top ten occupations from Q2 remained in the top ten for Q3 2015. Managers, joined the top ten while medical and health services managers fell out. Six of the top ten occupations in Wayne County require a Bachelor’s degree for entry-level openings. Postings increased for all ten of the most in-demand occupations in Wayne County between quarters. These top jobs accounted for one in every four postings in Wayne County during Q3 2015. In July of 2015, the labor force reached 764,453 individuals, down 2.4% from July 2014’s peak of 783,100. Third quarter numbers did increase 1.9% over Q2, however, WIN expects the labor force decrease during Q4 2015 and Q1 2016. A continued decline of the labor force will only exacerbate current employer struggles to find talent for in-demand occupations. Employment continued its steady rise through Q3. Initial estimates have Q3 employment numbers averaging 702,373 workers. This is the highest employment for Wayne County since late 2009. Since the labor force decreased at faster rate than employment increased, however, unemployment did increase to 7.9% from Q2 2015’s record low of 7.1%. Total online job postings in Wayne County increased from 46,093 in Q2 to 51,966 in Q3 2015 (+12.7%). Q3 2015 marked a fourth consecutive quarter of posting growth as well as a record high for Wayne County since online posting data began collection in 2011. Increased employer demand was most evident in IT and Retail & Hospitality occupations.
*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 Q3 2015
ANALYSIS Nine of the top ten occupations from Q2 remained in the top ten for Q3 2015. Managers joined the top ten while medical and health services managers fell out. Six of the top ten occupations in Wayne County require a Bachelor’s degree for entry-level employment. Postings increased for all ten of the most in-demand occupations in Wayne County between quarters. The top four occupations maintained the same order with slight variation in the bottom half of the top ten. These top jobs accounted for one in every four postings in Wayne County during Q3 2015.
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HIGHLIGHTS IT POSTINGS OVER TIME
ANALYSIS Online postings for Information Technology occupations rebounded after a slight decrease in Q2 2015. Postings increased by 20% to 8,908 during Q3. This high level of online ads also represented a record high for Wayne County since data began being collected in 2011. Like most of the WIN Region, Wayne County has experienced tremendous demand growth for IT positions in the last year.
ENGINEER & DESIGNER POSTINGS OVER TIME
ANALYSIS Similar to the IT cluster, the Engineer & Design cluster has experienced rapid demand growth over the past year in Wayne County. The 3,808 online ads during Q3 were a 13% jump over the 3,358 ads during Q2. The past quarter not only marked the third consecutive quarter of growth but also a record high for Engineer postings since data began being collected in 2011.
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LABOR MARKET OVERVIEW EMPLOYMENT & LABOR FORCE
ANALYSIS The labor force in Wayne County has been on a slow and steady decline for several years. The labor force typically peaks in July. In July of 2015, the labor force reached 764,453 individuals, down 2.4% from July 2014’s peak of 783,100. Third quarter numbers did increase 1.9% over Q2, however, WIN expects the labor force decrease during Q4 2015 and Q1 2016. Meanwhile, employment continued its steady rise through Q3. Initial estimates have Q3 employment numbers averaging 702,373 workers. This is the highest employment for Wayne County since late 2009. Since the labor force decreased at faster rate than employment increased, however, unemployment did increase to 7.9% from Q2 2015’s record low of 7.1%.
TOTAL POSTINGS OVER TIME
ANALYSIS Total online job postings in Wayne County increased from 46,093 in Q2 to 51,966 in Q3 2015 (+12.7%). Q3 2015 marked a fourth consecutive quarter of posting growth as well as a record high for Wayne County since online posting data began collection in 2011. Increased employer demand was most evident in IT and Retail & Hospitality occupations.
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POSTING TRENDS BY CLUSTER
ANALYSIS Online postings increased for all five of the occupational clusters analyzed by WIN in Wayne County during Q3 2015. The growth in overall postings was largely driven by the IT and Retail & Hospitality clusters. IT online ads increased by 1,464 to 8,908 (+19.7%) while R&H ads increased by 1,748 to 9,115 (+23.7%) during Q3 2015. Combined, the five clusters that WIN analyzed added 4,111 postings, or 70% of the 5,873 total additional ads during Q3 2015. These five clusters also accounted for 57% of the nearly 52,000 online postings in Wayne County.
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TOP JOBS BY CLUSTER ENGINEER & DESIGNER TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS Nine of the top ten Engineer & Designer occupations from Q2 remained in the Q3 top ten. New to the top ten were nonlandscape nor naval architects while industrial safety and health engineers fell out. Postings increased for nine of the top ten Engineer occupations—online ads for manufacturing engineers decreased from 235 in Q2 to 188 in Q3 2015. Mechanical engineers continued as the most in-demand Engineer & Design occupation with 736 online ads during Q3.
SKILLED TRADE & TECHNICIAN TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS Eight of the top ten Skilled Trade & Technicians occupations from Q2 remained in the top ten for Q3. New to the top ten were machine setters and operators for metal and plastic as well as civil engineering technicians. Meanwhile, CNC machine programmers and tool & die makers fell out of the top ten. Eight of the top ten occupations experienced an increase in postings between Q2 and Q3 2015. The top four posting occupations from Q2 maintained their spots in Q3 while some slight fluctuation in positioning occurred in the bottom half. First-line supervisors of production and operating workers maintained the top spot with nearly 300 online ads. 6
TOP JOBS BY CLUSTER HEALTH CARE TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS Eight of the top ten Health Care occupations from Q2 remained in the top ten for Q3. New to the top ten were pharmacy technicians and pharmacists while health technologists and speech language pathologists fell out. Eight of the top ten Health Care occupations experienced an increase in postings during Q3—online ads for medical records and health information technicians and physicians remained on par with Q2 numbers. Registered nurses continued to dominate Health Care postings; this occupation accounted for over one in every three postings within the Health Care cluster.
IT TOP JOBS
ANALYSIS Nine of the top ten Information Technology occupations from Q2 remained in the top ten for Q3. New to the top ten were computer programmers while network systems administrators fell out. Nine of the top ten IT occupations in Q3 experienced an increase in postings—only database administrators had fewer ads in Q3 than in Q2. Software developers not only maintained the top spot but also experienced the largest increase in postings. Online ads for this occupation reached 2,601 in Q3, (+24.3%) up from 2,092 in Q2. Software developers for applications accounted for 30% of all IT postings in Wayne County during Q3 2015. 7
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