Higher Education Employment Growth Outpaces U.S. Jobs Growth, But Gap Narrows

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May 17, 2012, 10:07 ET

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Growth in the number higher education jobs continued to moderate in Q1 2012, a trend that started to emerge mid-2011, but is still outpacing overall job growth. Similarly, the number of advertisements for job openings in higher education continued to rise, but at a moderating pace, according to a new report from HigherEdJobs, the leading source for jobs and career information in academia (http://www.higheredjobs.com/career/quarterly-report.cfm).

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An analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data by HigherEdJobs found that the number of actual jobs in higher education grew 1.8 percent during Q1 2012, compared to growth of 1.5 percent for all jobs, or a difference of 0.3 percentage points. In comparison, a year earlier in Q1 2011, the number of higher education jobs grew 2.6 percent compared to overall job growth of 1.1 percent, or a gap of 1.5 percentage points.

Similarly, the increase in higher education job openings has slowed in early 2012, but still at a faster rate than the change in the number of higher education jobs. The number of higher education job postings was up 21.1 percent in Q1 2012, down from 38.5 percent growth in Q1 2011.

In addition, the report found that colleges and universities continued to focus more on hiring administrators and executives over faculty in Q1 2012, although the rate of growth has also slowed. There appeared to be greater emphasis on utilizing part-time faculty than part-time administrators in 2011 and that trend continued into the first quarter of 2012.

The report examines job posting data from colleges and universities that have been continuously subscribed to the company's unlimited posting plan for four years or longer, a group of more than 700 schools, as well as data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

HigherEdJobs is the leading source for jobs and career information in academia. During 2011, more than 4,700 colleges and universities posted over 97,000 faculty, administrative and executive job postings to the company's website. HigherEdJobs receives 1,000,000 unique visitors a month. HigherEdJobs is published by Internet Employment Linkage, Inc. and is headquartered in State College, Pa.

www.higheredjobs.com

To view the complete report, go to: http://www.higheredjobs.com/career/quarterly-report.cfm

SOURCE HigherEdJobs