6.1 percent in April, where are the jobs?
Who's hiring?
According to local
employment agencies, anyone who is trained in the health care field has options,
from nursing to hospital management to technology services.
"That's where
the biggest opportunities are right now, especially for nurses," said Lynne
Nelson, owner of Nelson Personnel, a full service employment agency in Missoula.
Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, she said, "are tough to
find."
James Jacobson, branch manager for LC Staffing Service in
Missoula, said there are more openings than people to fill them.
"A
friend of mine who runs a nursing agency, which places workers, can't keep up
with employers' needs," Jacobson said. "The medical fields truly are a bright
spot in this economy."
Beyond the health care industry, employers are
actively seeking people to fill temporary jobs in the area's "light industrial"
sectors, Nelson said.
In the past few weeks, her office has been busy
helping to fill openings for production line work at a local pharmaceutical
company and a furniture-making businesses. Landscaping companies have sought her
help to find employees, and for general handyman work, such as painting
projects.
There's also been increased demand for clerical support and
other office-related positions.
"When temporary billings go up across the
country, which is what is happening, it's an indicator that our country's
economy is moving forward," Nelson said. "I'm really glad to see our
unemployment going down. It means more people are getting
employment."
"And I'm happier we are getting busier because it means our
economy is changing."
The local employment trend is not surprising, said
Missoula economist Larry Swanson.
"We still have quite a bit of
seasonality in our unemployment numbers and this time of year, we traditionally
see our lowest rates," he said.
Before the recession, the Missoula area
was known to swing between 3 percent and 6 percent unemployment throughout the
year.
"With the economic slowdown, we won't get down to 2 and 3 percent
unemployment like we have in the past, but we'll probably get into the 4.5
percent range, and possibly lower," Swanson said. "That's not bad."
In
fact, a quick search on various Internet sites that post job openings show the
Missoula area has several hundred job openings in just about every
sector.
"There are jobs out there," Jacobson said. "And we are going to
have a positive year because Montana tends to run six months behind the economic
curve, and I think what we are seeing now is that we are coming out of that
curve and that things are improving."