Job Openings in Headwaters Region Up 45 Percent; But Job Seekers Outnumber Full-Time Openings 6-1

JOBS NOW Coalition

Job Vacancy FACT SHEET—October 2013

Job Openings in Headwaters Region Up 45 Percent; But Job Seekers Outnumber Full-Time Openings 6-1

Job openings in the Headwaters Region grew 45 percent from one year ago, according to the updated Job Vacancy Survey from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.*  Of Minnesota’s thirteen economic regions, the Headwaters Region showed the second largest increase in job openings over the last year.**

But 39 percent of all job openings in the region are temporary or seasonal, and65 percent of all openings are part-time.  With 3,100 unemployed job seekers competing for only 500 full-time job openings, job seekers outnumber full-time openings by 6-to-1.

In some of the largest occupations, most of the openings are part-time.  For office and administrative support openings, 72 percent are part-time; for food preparation and serving openings, 91 percent are part-time; and for janitorial openings, 100 percent are part-time.

Other major findings for the Headwaters Region include:

• Only 40% of all openings offer health care.
• Only 30% of all openings require education or training beyond high school.
• Only 11% of all openings require a four-year degree.
• The median wage for all openings is $10.02 per hour.***

According to JOBS NOW’s Cost of Living research, a singleperson with no dependents who works full-time in the Headwaters Region must earn $10.71 per hour to meet basic needs.  In a family of four with both parents working full-time, each worker must earn $12.37 per hour.  To see the Cost of Livingresearch by county, use the online Family Wage & Budget Calculator at www.jobsnowcoalition.org/calculator/calculator.html

?Questions? Contact Kevin Ristau at 651-290-0240 or kristau@jobsnowcoalition.org

* The Headwaters Economic Region consists of the following counties: Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Lake of the Woods and Mahnomen.

**Seehttp://www.positivelyminnesota.com/apps/lmi/jvs/ChooseAreaMap.aspx.  Figures for job seekers and job openings are from second quarter 2013.

*** A median is a midway point; half of the jobs are above it, half below.