Employment in the 16-county WIN region grew by 8,018 workers and job postings continue to grow, with five high-demand occupation groups experiencing at least a 20 percent jump in postings from Q1.
Employer demand grows to 382,000 jobs posted during Q2 2019, with five high-demand occupation groups experiencing at least a 20 percent jump in postings. During Q2 2019, there were 381,777 job postings, 39,022 more than the 342,755 postings made during Q1 2019 in the 16-county WIN region.
“Often, postings are slower in the first half of the year than the second, so this high growth between the first and second quarters is remarkable,“ said WIN Executive Director Michele Economou Ureste. “Most of the occupation groups analyzed by WIN experienced a decline during the first quarter of 2019 but have more than made up for it in Q2.”
Annual Unemployment Rate Rises Slightly
The labor force in greater southeast Michigan continues to grow, increasing by 23,539 individuals between 2018 annual figures and the year-to-date (YTD) levels through June 2019. Employment increased by 21,675 workers between 2018 and YTD 2019. As the increase in employment accounted for most, but not all, of the massive increase in labor force, the unemployment rate rose very slightly. From an annual rate of 4.2 percent in 2018, the annual rate has risen by just under 0.1 percentage points to the current YTD rate of 4.3 percent in 2019 for the 16-county WIN region.
Top 5 Posted Jobs Q2 2019
Despite a slight decline in postings, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers remained the highest in-demand occupation during the first half of 2019, with 37,893 online job postings. Of the top five overall in-demand occupations, two typically require a bachelor’s degree for entry. Registered Nurses (22,888 postings) and Software Developers, Applications (9,308 postings) also offer higher wages than many top jobs. Customer service occupations round out the remaining top five posted jobs with First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers (9,790 postings) and Retail Salespersons (9,501 postings). Customer Service Representatives (7,526 postings) were also in high demand during Q2 2019.
Labor Force, Employment, and Unemployment for Q2
The labor market in southeast Michigan has experienced relative stability since 2010. The labor force increased by 3,898 workers between Q1 2019 and Q2 2019. Employment in the 16-county area also increased from Q1 2019 to Q2 2019, by 8,018 workers. More dramatically, this represents an increase of 31,762 workers (1.1 percent) over Q2 2018. With labor force increasing at a lesser rate than employment, the unemployment rate decreased this quarter: the quarterly unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage point between Q1 2019 and Q2 2019 to 4.2 percent.
The full Q2 2019 labor market report for the 16-county region analyzed by WIN, is available at www.winintelligence.org/data-research/labor-market-reports/win-region. You can also download the City of Detroit Q2 2019 Labor Market Report now.
Have questions or need more information? Contact WIN’s data and research team directly at research@WINintelligence.org.