Monster Employment Index Falls 22%

The Monster.com Index, monthly gauge of online labor demand in the US, fell in December, as job conditions worsened due to the recession.

Monster Worldwide, the online careers and recruiting firm, said its employment index fell to 131 points last month, from 143 in November. The December index is down 22 percent from a year ago.

Online job availability has fallen, as employers have drastically pared payrolls to cut costs in the current business downturn, according to Monster.

The Monster Employment index is a monthly analysis based on a selection of corporate career sites and job boards.

Online job demand in the real estate, rental & leasing industry slipped to its lowest level since Monster began tracking online job data in 2003.

Online job openings in all top 28 metro markets fell in December, with Pittsburgh posting a whopping 37 point drop.

And only two of the 20 industry categories showed increases in online job availability.

The Monster report followed the ADP National Employment report released earlier this week, which showed a staggering loss of 693,000 jobs in the private sector in December.