Hiring of LinkedIn members in the Los Angeles area rose 1.5 percent in August from July levels, in line with the national average, according to a monthly report released late Friday from the business networking website.
However, the Los Angeles region trailed the nation slightly when it came to the increase in hiring year-over-year: the increase from August 2016 to this past August was 5.6 percent for the Los Angeles region, compared to the national average increase of 7.2 percent.
LinkedIn economist Guy Berger said growth in hiring for the L.A. area lagged the national average because hiring in the region was exceptionally strong in August 2016.
For the monthly workforce report, the Sunnyvale online networking company collects data monthly from its website on how many members post announcements that they have a new job. According to the report, more than 138 million workers in the U.S. have LinkedIn profiles, over 20,000 U.S. companies use LinkedIn to recruit and over 3 million jobs are posted on LinkedIn each month.
The company does not disclose how many of its members posted new job announcements, just the percentage change month-to-month and year-to-year, based on a hiring rate index.
The Los Angeles data includes new job announcements from members in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. (Orange County has a separate report.)
The report also looked at the “skills gap” in the Los Angeles area, listing occupations with a supply of workers exceeding employer demand and another set of occupations where employer demand outstrips the supply of workers.
Most of the occupations where the number of workers exceeds employer demand are in the creative sector: Television and video production, theater/drama, music production, graphic design, photography and fashion clothing. Several of the occupations or skill sets where there is a shortage in the supply of workers are technical in nature, such as information technology and IT system management.
“Los Angeles has long been a magnet for people with creative skills,” Berger said. “That makes it a buyers’ market for employers seeking those skills.”
Economy, education, energy and transportation reporter Howard Fine can be reached at hfine@labusinessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @howardafine.
