Online job advertising in Northeast Florida is on the rise.
The number of online job ads rose 2.3 percent in February from the year before, and surged 17.4 percent from January.
That’s according to WorkSource, the First Coast Workforce Development Inc. office that covers the region of Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties.
Year over year, the number of online advertised vacancies rose by 436 positions to 19,795 jobs.
For the month, online job vacancy postings rose by 2,932 jobs.
“We continue to see slow but steady recovery in the job market led by health care, IT and retail,” said Candace Moody, WorkSource vice president of communications.
“Truck drivers are becoming one of the most in-demand occupations, showing that goods are being shipped again — all good news for our local labor force,” she said.
Moody warned about a factor that could slow job growth.
“The one issue that could stop our forward momentum is rising fuel prices. That hurts business and affects job-seeker earnings as well. Higher fuel costs will cause all prices to rise and may slow down the pace of our recovery,” she said.
Since the official end of the recession in June 2009, online job demand in the WorkSource region has increased by 5,498 positions.
Labor demand, as measured by online advertised vacancies, bottomed out in January 2009. Since then, the region has seen an increase of 8,964 openings, WorkSource reports.
Job postings continue to remain most prevalent in health care, truck driving, customer service, computer systems and sales.
The monthly report comes from data collected by The Conference Board, a New York-based nonprofit source of economic information.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity makes the information available to the 24 Workforce regions in Florida.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for the Jacksonville metropolitan area edged down from 9.2 percent in December to 9.1 percent in January, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported Tuesday.
The agency also reported that the number of non-farm jobs in the Jacksonville area rose by 5,000 from January 2011 through January 2012 to 588,700, a 0.9 percent growth rate. The agency does not adjust the Jacksonville data for seasonal factors.
The agency also said that Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 9.9 percent to 9.6 percent in January.
At the same time, Jacksonville was ranked No. 1 in a Forbes.com report about the “worst cities for jobs this spring.”
Forbes.com reported that a survey just released by the ManpowerGroup employment services firm found employers in all 50 states intend to increase their payrolls during the three-month period ending in June.
It also ranked the best and worst places for job growth.
Jacksonville topped the list with a “net employment outlook” of 2 percent job growth.
Following Jacksonville at a projected 3 percent growth in the number of jobs were Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif.; and Reno-Sparks, Nev.
Two cities tied as best for job growth with a projected 24 percent increase. They were Knoxville, Tenn., and Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, S.C.
Greenville has been in the news because the Bi-Lo grocery company announced this week it will relocate its corporate offices from Greenville to Jacksonville in the wake of its acquisition of Jacksonville-based Winn-Dixie Stores Inc.
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Top occupations in demand in February – available ads
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported the number of all available job ads online compiled by The Conference Board. Here are the numbers for the region served by WorkSource. The area consists of Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties.
| Top advertised occupations | Available online ads February 2012 | Available online ads February 2011 |
| Total ads | 19,795 | 19,359 |
| Registered nurses | 829 | 676 |
| Retail salespeople | 588 | 584 |
| Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailers | 503 | 352 |
| Computer systems analysts | 500 | 438 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers | 489 | 506 |
| Customer service representatives | 471 | 494 |
| Web developers | 458 | 448 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers | 374 | 214 |
| Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products | 339 | 303 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of office and administrative support workers | 261 | 205 |
| Network and computer systems administrators | 247 | 227 |
| Computer support specialists | 243 | 266 |
| Executive secretaries and administrative assistants | 238 | 240 |
| Sales representatives, services, all others | 224 | 244 |
| Occupational therapists | 206 | 274 |
Source: The Conference Board, Help Wanted Online, prepared by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Labor Market Statistics Center
Top occupations in demand in February – new ads
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported the number of new job ads online compiled by The Conference Board. Here are the numbers for the region served by WorkSource. The area consists of Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties.
| Top advertised occupations | New online ads February 2012 | New online ads February 2011 |
| Total ads | 14,222 | 13,043 |
| Registered nurses | 568 | 337 |
| Retail salespeople | 415 | 386 |
| Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer | 387 | 246 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers | 344 | 325 |
| Computer systems analysts | 327 | 247 |
| Customers service representatives | 321 | 347 |
| Web developers | 306 | 275 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of food preparation and serving workers | 293 | 155 |
| Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products | 236 | 211 |
| Executive secretaries and administrative assistants | 182 | 179 |
| Real estate agents | 182 | 136 |
| First-line supervisors/managers of office and administrative support workers | 179 | 126 |
| Computer support specialists | 173 | 180 |
| Sales representatives, services, all other | 160 | 169 |
| Insurance sales agents | 151 | 180 |