QUARTERLY REPORT JACKSON COUNTY Q1 2015

SUMMARY

Employment grew 1.1% in Jackson County between 2013 and 2014 while the labor force shrank 0.7%, meaning that the county saw its unemployment rate drop nearly 2 percentage points from 8.7% to 7.0%.

Demand for IT occupations in Jackson County increased over 150% between Q4 and Q1. The health care and skilled trades clusters also saw large increases over Q4 postings, with postings increasing with 69% and 59% growth, respectively.

In Q1 2015, total job postings in Jackson County increased to 2,236, a 23% change over 2014’s average of 1,800.

ANALYSIS

Just as in Q4 2014, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers was by far Jackson County’s most in-demand job Q1 2015, with 178 postings. Registered nurses (61 postings), retail salespersons (60 postings), and maintenance & repair workers’ (56 postings) show strength in demand across various occupational clusters in the county.

TOP JOBS Q1 2015

JACKSON Q1 2015 DEMAND OVERVIEW

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*This report includes top jobs and postings over time highlights for clusters that have made major shifts ormovements 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.

HIGHLIGHTS

ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS

Q1 2015 saw a peak in postings for engineers & designers (150 postings) not seen in Jackson County since Q3 2013 (146 postings). Postings in this cluster fluctuated between 75 and 100 throughout 2014 and this spike in demand represents a 50% increase from 2014’s quarterly postings average.

ENGINEER & DESIGNER OVER TIME

ANALYSISPostings in the IT occupation cluster also peaked in Q1 2015. Relative to data since the beginning of 2011, Q1’s 259 postings for IT jobs is the highest seen in Jackson County. This dramatic rise is an 80% increase over 2014’s quarterly average of 144 postings, and a 150% increase over the 102 ads posted in Q4 2014.

IT POSTINGS OVER TIME

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LABOR MARKET OVERVIEW

ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS

ANALYSISEMPLOYMENT & LABOR FORCE

ANALYSISTOTAL POSTINGS OVER TIME

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During 2014, employment in Jackson County averaged 65,977 individuals, with an available labor force of 70,922. Employment grew 1.1% between 2013 and 2014 while the labor force shrank 0.7%. Because employment is growing faster than the labor force is shrinking, the drop in the unemployment rate from 8.7% to 7.0% is at least partially due to individuals gaining jobs in the region. This data represents a general decline in Jackson County’s unemployment rate over 2014; the unemployment rate fell from 8.0% in January 2014 to 5.4% in December.

Total job postings in Jackson County hovered around 1,800 throughout 2014. In Q1 2015, postings increased to 2,236. This increase in postings represents a 23% change from 2014’s average and near the peak of 2,742 postings reached in Q3 2013.

POSTING TRENDS BY CLUSTER

ANALYSIS

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All occupation clusters analyzed by WIN experienced an increase in postings in Q1 2015, contributing to the 23% increase in postings in Jackson County over 2014’s average. Demand for IT occupations increased over 150% between Q4 and Q1. The health care and skilled trades clusters also saw large increases over Q4 postings, with postings increasing by 69% and 59%, respectively.

The clusters analyzed by WIN account for 56% of all online job postings in the county.

TOP JOBS BY CLUSTER

ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS

ANALYSISHEALTH CARE TOP JOBS

ANALYSISSKILLED TRADE & TECHNICIAN TOP JOBS

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The most in-demand job in the health care cluster for Q1 was registered nurses, with 61 postings. The postings for RNs in Q1 are double what they were in Q4 (31 postings). Postings for nursing assistants also increased dramatically between quarters, from 12 in Q4 to 30 in Q1, making this the second most in-demand occupation in the health care cluster. Postings for physical therapists remained the same between Q4 (17) and Q1 (16), but the occupation shifted down several spots in the top jobs rankings.

The top two jobs in the skilled trades occupation cluster for Q1 2015 experienced major increases in demand from Q4 2014. Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, & weighers saw postings increase from 2 to 14 between quarters in order to become the most in-demand occupation for Q1. Similarly, postings for computer-controlled machine tool operators, metal & plastic, increased from 3 postings in Q4 to 12 in Q1, to take the second place spot.

ANALYSISRETAIL & HOSPITALITY TOP JOBS

ANALYSISIT TOP JOBS

TOP JOBS BY CLUSTER

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Postings for retail salespersons in Jackson County decreased by 25%, from 80 to 60 postings between Q4 2014 and Q1 2015. Nonetheless, this is still the most in-demand occupation for this cluster. The top 2nd and 3rd retail jobs in demand in Q4 retain their places in Q1; customer service representatives (38 postings in Q4) and first-line supervisors of retail salespersons (36 postings in Q4) both had 54 openings in Q1.

Software developers, applications was the top IT occupation in Jackson County in Q1 2015. Software developers reached this spot with an increase from 4 postings in Q4 2014 to 46 in Q1. Computer user support specialists and computer systems analysts, Q4’s top jobs, round out Q1’s top three in-demand occupations.

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