Monster Local Employment Index Shows Online Job Availability Dipped in 20 of the Top 28 U.S. Metro Markets in January

Results Suggest Seasonal Hiring Slowdown During the Holidays May Have Extended into Early 2007 January 2007 Monster Local Employment Index Highlights: -- St. Louis registers largest gain in January, while neighboring Kansas City, Cleveland and Minneapolis remain the leading Midwestern markets in growth -- San Francisco maintains pace in January and sees improvement year-over-year despite tightening labor market conditions in the greater Bay Area -- Houston continues to register the fastest annual growth pace, while Dallas shows signs of new hiring momentum, both indicating sustained expansion in the growing Texas economy -- New York City remains the best performing online recruitment market in the Northeast, while Eastern Corridor cities Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. are mostly flat over the year -- Denver shows signs of further slowdown in manufacturing, construction and transportation compared to last year's rapid pace -- Food preparation and serving occupations show positive year-over-year growth in all 28 markets for the ninth consecutive month

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2007--Online job availability dipped in a majority of the top 28 U.S. metro markets in January, suggesting that a seasonal slowdown in local online recruitment activity during the year-end holidays may have extended into the early weeks of the first month of 2007, according to the latest findings of the Monster Local Employment Index.

"The Index showed only marginal changes in a majority of the top 28 metro areas between December and January, and although a number of markets have shown signs of slowing from the rapid pace of growth seen through most of last year, every market except Tampa is registering greater online job availability for workers compared to January 2006," said Steve Pogorzelski, Group President, International at Monster Worldwide. "In fact, unemployment rates in 22 of the 28 markets tracked were lower in December 2006 than a year earlier, demonstrating continued labor market improvement in most of the nation's largest cities."

Baltimore, Cleveland and Denver registered the steepest declines during the month of January, as each shed four points, while Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Sacramento and San Diego each dipped three points. In the West, Denver has seen a deceleration in growth following last year's rapid pace of expansion, mostly due to slowdowns in the area's manufacturing and construction sectors. Miami and Orlando saw more moderate declines last month, as both edged down one point, with Orlando showing fewer online opportunities for workers in healthcare and housing related occupations, offsetting gains in other categories related to the area's important tourism industry.

St. Louis, which had seen two consecutive months of decline, registered the largest increase in online job availability in January, edging up two points. However, Kansas City, Cleveland and Minneapolis remain the leading Midwestern markets in year-over-year improvement. Although overall payroll growth, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, has been limited in both Kansas City and Cleveland, each of the metro areas has noted increased online demand for IT, science and engineering related occupations, possibly suggesting a shortage of technically-skilled workers in each market. Minneapolis, compared to other markets, has seen solid growth in online job opportunities for healthcare occupations.

Over the year, online job recruitment activity increased in all of the top 28 U.S. markets except for Tampa, which despite a slight up-tick in January, remains flat year over year due to softening in blue-collar hiring areas.

Houston, which dipped two points in January, remains the fastest growing major online recruitment market on a year-over-year basis, as the area continues to benefit from favorable energy prices, strong housing demand and steady expansion at the Port of Houston. The Dallas metro area was one of the few markets that edged up in January, reflecting an overall healthy job market with rising demand among services and various blue-collar occupations. The combined momentum of both Houston and Dallas suggests sustained growth for the Texas economy.

The Index for San Francisco maintained pace in January, remaining flat amid tight labor market conditions that have helped bring the Bay Area's unemployment rates down to some of their lowest levels since the technology downturn in 2001. In fact, the San Francisco market continues to climb up in the Index's metro growth rankings, largely due to higher demand for workers in both business and financial operations, as well as in computer and mathematical occupations.

In the Northeast, New York City remains the best performing online recruitment market due to a sharp decline in the unemployment rate. By contrast, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. are mostly flat over the year.

Over the past year, food preparation and serving positions, and protective services related occupations, have registered the fastest pace of growth for the 28 markets combined, reflecting continuous high demand for restaurant and hospitality workers and security and safety professionals. In fact, food preparation and serving is the only occupational category tracked by the Index that continues to show year-over-year growth in all 28 metro areas.

Overall results for the top 28 U.S. metro markets over the past 12 months are as follows:

JAN DEC NOV OCT SEP AUG JUL JUN MAY APR MAR FEB JAN 07 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 06 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Atlanta 106 109 110 111 110 108 106 106 106 106 105 103 99 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Baltimore 101 105 106 107 106 107 102 103 103 104 103 102 99 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Boston 102 103 105 108 107 107 100 104 106 104 103 102 99 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Chicago 102 105 109 110 108 107 104 105 106 105 104 102 97 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cincinnati 103 105 108 106 106 105 106 105 109 105 101 102 98 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Cleveland 106 110 113 113 108 109 105 106 107 108 104 103 97 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dallas 108 107 111 110 110 109 107 107 108 107 106 103 98 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Denver 104 108 112 112 112 113 109 106 109 109 107 102 99 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Detroit 103 106 110 109 108 108 104 104 106 105 103 103 99 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Houston 115 117 120 120 117 115 112 111 112 110 107 105 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Indianapolis 103 104 109 108 108 107 107 105 106 109 105 103 98 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Kansas City 108 110 114 114 113 111 106 107 109 107 104 103 97 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Los Angeles 103 103 104 105 104 101 104 102 104 104 105 103 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Miami 104 105 107 108 106 105 103 105 106 106 106 104 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Minneapolis 108 110 114 116 113 111 109 109 108 107 106 103 99 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- New York City 103 104 108 108 106 106 102 104 106 106 103 103 98 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Orlando 102 103 107 106 105 105 103 101 103 103 103 101 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Philadelphia 103 104 107 106 105 105 102 101 103 103 103 103 101 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Phoenix 105 105 110 110 111 112 110 111 113 109 106 103 101 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pittsburgh 105 105 109 109 106 106 103 102 103 103 106 104 101 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Portland 105 105 111 113 112 115 107 108 110 106 102 103 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sacramento 102 105 108 109 106 109 105 103 106 109 108 107 98 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- San Diego 103 106 110 111 110 115 107 106 107 106 105 106 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- San Francisco 107 107 111 111 109 110 105 105 106 106 106 105 99 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Seattle 106 108 111 113 112 115 109 109 110 108 106 103 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Louis 106 104 108 111 109 108 105 108 107 107 106 104 100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tampa 101 100 103 104 103 106 104 104 106 106 106 104 101 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Washington, D.C. 100 101 104 106 106 106 101 100 102 102 103 102 99 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

The February results of the Monster Local Employment Index will be released on March 22, 2007.

About the Monster Local Employment Index

Providing a broad, comprehensive monthly analysis of online job demand in the top 28 U.S. metro markets, the Monster Local Employment Index is an extension of the national Monster Employment Index, which is compiled each month by researchers at Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST), parent company of the leading global online career and recruitment resource, Monster(R). Based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from more than 1,500 Web sites, including Monster(R), the Monster Local Employment Index presents a snapshot of employer online recruitment activity in the top 28 U.S. markets with the largest working populations.

The Index counts job postings as an indicator of employer demand for employees or, in other words, job availability. Job postings are online advertisements placed by an employer looking to fill one or more vacant, or recently created, job positions. All of the data and findings have been validated for accuracy through independent, monthly third party auditing conducted by ARC Research of Cranford, New Jersey. Individual Index reports containing data for each of the 28 metro markets, as well as additional information on occupational demand in each area, are now available at http://LocaleIndex.monsterworldwide.com.

About Monster Worldwide

Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST) parent company of Monster(R), the premier global online employment solution for more than a decade, strives to bring people together to advance their lives. With a local presence in key markets in North America, Europe, and Asia, Monster works for everyone by connecting employers with quality job seekers at all levels and by providing personalized career advice to consumers globally. Through online media sites and services, Monster delivers vast, highly targeted audiences to advertisers. Monster Worldwide is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ 100. To learn more about Monster's industry-leading products and services, visit www.monster.com. More information about Monster Worldwide is available at www.monsterworldwide.com.

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