Unemployed still outnumber job postings in KC area but ratio has shrunk markedly

In Kansas City and around the country there has been steady improvement in labor demand since 2012, but while the ratio of unemployed persons to advertised job openings has fallen, there still are more job hunters than posted job ads.

The Conference Board’s Help Wanted OnLine report, released Wednesday, said that for the Kansas City area the ratio of unemployed job hunters to posted job openings in November was 1.44. That represented 56,900 unemployed compared to 39,600 job postings.

The metro area’s total job postings fell slightly in December, but local unemployment numbers for that month aren’t yet available to provide an updated supply-and-demand ratio.

On balance, the Conference Board’s report on job postings was positive, despite the small dip last month in new job openings. During the recession, there were more than five unemployed persons for every posted job ad. Nationally, the supply/demand ratio was 1.73 in November.

The new report said employers in the Kansas City area posted 18,100 new job openings in December, but the total job openings appearing online were down by 700 from November.

According to information tracked by the Conference Board, here are some specifics about job postings posted in the Kansas City area. In December, there were:

▪ 5,976 postings for management, business and financial positions, advertising average hourly wages of $40.39.

▪ 12,029 postings for other professional positions, averaging $30.67 an hour.

▪ 3,184 postings for service jobs, averaging $12.01.

▪ 8,396 sales and office jobs, averaging $17.74.

▪ 2,257 construction and maintenance jobs, averaging $22.37.

▪ 3,730 production and transportation jobs, averaging $16.85.

This story was originally published January 7, 2015 at 11:21 AM with the headline "Unemployed still outnumber job postings in KC area but ratio has shrunk markedly."