Monster Employment Index Europe Rises in February, as Online Recruitment Rebounds from January Dip

The Monster Employment Index Europe rose seven points in February,
rebounding from the seasonal dip registered in January. The Index
reached a level of 129 as a result of greater demand for workers
across France, Sweden and the UK. The rise is in line with the annual
trend of a pickup in February, which was reported in both 2005 and
2006. Year-on-year, the Index is up 13 points.

Additional information on the Monster Employment Index Europe is
available online at http://euindex.monsterworldwide.com. Visitors can
subscribe to receive the European Index report, as well as any or all
of the five country-specific Index reports on a monthly basis via
email. Individual Index reports are produced for five European
countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United
Kingdom. These reports also provide a breakdown of trends across
occupations and sectors.

Online recruitment in the banking, finance and insurance sector
grew significantly in February, following a sharp drop in January,
while the production, manufacturing, maintenance and repair sector
continued a four-month downward trend.

Five occupational categories saw increased demand in February,
four of which were white-collar. Occupations showing reduced demand
were predominantly blue-collar and included service, shop and market
sales workers, for whom demand plunged 30 points to its lowest level
since January 2005.

Monster Employment Index Europe results for the past 14 months are
as follows:

-0-
*T
Feb Jan Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan
07 07 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06
----- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
129 122 126 125 126 124 126 125 121 116 116 117 116 106
----- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
*T

Findings for the five countries tracked by the Monster Employment
Index Europe for the past 14 months are as follows:

-0-
*T
Country Feb Jan Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug
07 07 06 06 06 06 06
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
France 155 122 140 134 136 128 124
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Germany 117 117 118 118 119 119 121
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Netherlands 170 171 180 173 167 163 160
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Sweden 157 136 145 138 131 123 112
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
United
Kingdom 140 121 129 128 127 125 128
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Country Jul Jun May Apr Mar Feb Jan
06 06 06 06 06 06 06
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
France 146 126 119 123 118 122 107
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Germany 119 115 115 112 113 109 106
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Netherlands 154 159 155 148 136 126 116
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
Sweden 116 129 117 119 117 111 116
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
United
Kingdom 123 125 108 115 120 128 101
----------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
*T

Launched in June 2005 with data collected since December 2004, the
Monster Employment Index Europe is compiled by Monster Worldwide. The
Index was established to provide European labour market watchers with
a valuable monthly snapshot of online recruitment activity based on
the research of millions of employer postings from more than 1,400 Web
sites. In addition to providing an analysis of overall European online
job demand, the Index shows changes in online opportunities within
industry sectors and occupational groups.