In our most recent West Orange County Business and Jobs Biweekly Update—November 23, 2009 (see “More West OC Business and Jobs” below), , we reported that there had been an increase in California employment in October, the first month over month increase since early last year. That statistic came from the California Employment Development Department. Now, a private job index also reports positive job news for managerial hiring in the four major California metropolitan areas.

The CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index, which measures U.S. managerial recruitment activity, found nationwide online job postings in November 2009 rose to 73.7, up from the Index last month (67.8).

While all regions experienced gains in November, the Northeast was the only region of the country to show a slight gain from 2008. For the West region, the index improved from 63.8 in October to 69.5 for November. The West region was at 62.6 at the beginning of this year, after which it fell steadily to hit bottom at 40.1 in April. Then, it improved for May, June, and July when it hit a high for the year of 75.0.

"With weak hiring persisting through the fall, which is traditionally a strong season for job growth, we could see the national unemployment rate rise above 11% in early 2010," says Rich Guha, CEO, JobSerf. "Unfortunately, C Level positions dropped for the third month in a row, although Manager, Director and VP Level jobs saw modest gains.”

"Managers and executives living in cities with poor hiring activity can find employment opportunities all over the country through national job boards," according to Tony Lee, publisher, CareerCast.com. "Although relocation isn't an option for everyone, job seekers with flexibility may consider expanding their job search to include markets that are recovering faster than their own."

For California, this index considers the four major metropolitan areas of the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside. Riverside has been at the bottom—by a lot--of the 30 largest metropolitan areas cover by the index. The index for Riverside is 13, up from 9 last month. The next lowest city is Memphis at an index of 23. This means that on a per capita basis, there are nearly twice as many job openings in second from the bottom Memphis, as there are in bottom dwelling Riverside.

But you don’t need to go all the way to Memphis. The index for Los Angeles for November is 35, up from 29 for October.

For San Diego, the index moved up from 40 in November, compared to 34 in October. For the San Francisco Bay area, the index shot up to 70. It was only 59 in October.

Thus, the per capita managerial job availability for Los Angeles is almost triple what it is for Riverside. The bay area is double that of Los Angeles. But, if you want the best market in the country, it is still Washington D.C. The index for the nation’s capital is 135, unchanged from October.

The availability of managerial jobs on a per capita basis in Washington D.C. is ten times the availability in Riverside. An index of 100 means that there are the same number of per capita job postings today as there were in the same month of 2007, the base year for the index. A score of greater than 100 means there are more jobs available and a score of less than 100 means there are proportionally less jobs. The actual value of the index does not represent the number of jobs, it is an index useful for city/city comparisons. In addition to Washington D.C., Boston, with a score of 109, is the only other major metropolitan area to have more jobs available today then at the base period.

The CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index is a barometer showing the change in managerial job openings posted online nationally. The Index reveals the differences in job listings by month, and offers trends and forecasts using proprietary employment data hand-counted by a team of researchers. To read the full report or for more information, visit www.CareerCast.com.