Monster, an online careers and recruiting firm, said its Employment Index rose to 167 points in March from 165 in February. It was 185 a year ago.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - An online gauge of U.S. labor demand rose slightly in March, reflecting more job offerings in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector, a private research group said on Thursday.
Monster, an online careers and recruiting firm, said its Employment Index rose to 167 points in March from 165 in February. It was 185 a year ago.
Weakness in the financial and insurance sector, which has been hobbled by the credit crisis, contributed to the 10 percent year-to-year drop in the index.
"The Monster Employment Index's slight increase in March was below historical levels for this time of year, and reflects a continued slowdown in overall employer recruitment activity," said Jesse Harriott, a vice president at Monster.
!ADVERTISEMENT!"This month's results also underscore the adverse effect the sub-prime mortgage industry fallout has had on hiring efforts in the financial services sector, particularly in the Northeast region of the country."
The Monster index registered monthly increases in 16 of 20 industries and 15 of 23 occupations.
Job demand was higher in eight of the nine U.S. census regions, with the West South Central registering the biggest increase rate.
The Monster report comes ahead of the U.S. Labor Department's release later on Thursday of initial claims for jobless benefits, expected to be at 370,000, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
The ADP National Employment report showed on Wednesday that U.S. private employers likely added 8,000 jobs in March, compared with 23,000 jobs lost in February.
The Monster Employment index is a monthly analysis based on a selection of corporate career sites and job boards. The margin of error is approximately plus or minus 1 percent.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Leslie Adler)
