Monster Employment Index Europe Continues Six?month Downtrend, as Online Recruitment Activity Dips during September

September 2008 Index Highlights:

• The Monster Employment Index Europe dipped four points in September to 155, as online job opportunities fell for the sixth consecutive month
• Whilst Germany and Sweden reported increased online job opportunities, these were offset by sharp declines in France, Italy and the UK
• The Index remains up on last year´s figures, however the annual growth rate fell from 11 percent in August, to five percent in September
• Environment, architecture and urbanism; healthcare and social work; automotive; and education, training and library registered sharp declines in September
• The evolving credit crisis continued to affect recruitment activity in the banking, finance and insurance sector, as opportunities fell to an eight–month low
• Among occupational groups, demand fell significantly for legislators, senior officials and managers

Summary Overview

Online recruitment activity dipped across Europe in September, with France, Italy and the UK reporting the steepest declines in job availability. In addition, the Index´s year–on–year growth rate fell to five percent from 11 percent in the previous month. Germany remained the top growth country on an annual basis, up eight percent from a year ago. Belgium and the Netherlands reported fewer online opportunities in September and registered the largest annual declines.

The Monster Employment Index Europe is a monthly analysis of millions of online job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of corporate career sites and job boards across Europe, including Monster.

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Monthly Index reports for Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Europe are available at:

http://corporate.monster.com/Press_Room/MEI_EU.asp.