Education Employment Growth Continues to Outperform

While the gap is beginning to narrow, the number of higher education jobs continued to outpace the overall national job growth rate in Q1 2012, says a new report from HigherEdJobs. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that jobs in the sector grew 1.8 percent during the quarter, 0.3 percent higher than the overall jobs growth rate. The pace has moderated, however, as in Q1 2011 higher-ed jobs were growing at a 2.6 percent rate while overall job growth was at 1.1 percent.

Job postings have also slowed year-over-year but were still up 21.1 percent during the first quarter. The report continued by noting that the hiring focus of colleges and universities remains on administrators and executives over faculty but that growth rate is also slowing. Part-time faculty members are more likely to be utilized than part-time administrators.

Other key findings from the report include:

Jobs openings at community colleges experienced accelerated growth while junior college employment fell during Q1 2012.

Part-time higher-ed jobs, experiencing an increased growth rate throughout 2011, appear to be slowing into 2012.

The Northeast region had the highest job posting increase in Q1 2012 while the West South Central area experienced the greatest percentage growth.

The full report may be found at HigherEdJobs.com/Career/Quarterly-Report.cfm.