Flying in the face of the U.S. Department of Labor September jobs data which showed a loss of 159,000 non-farm jobs during the month, LinkUp’s job data for September presents a far more positive outlook on the U.S. employment numbers. In fact, 45 states in the U.S. showed an increase in new jobs between August and September, while 48 states showed an increase in total job openings. New job listings on LinkUp rose from 643,175 in August to 726,472 in September, an increase of 83,297 new jobs. Total job listings on the site rose from 860,375 in August to 951,970 in September, an increase of 91,595 total jobs.

LinkUp is a job board that aggregates individual job postings pulled directly from company web sites such as Target, Apple, or Google. Because the job listings come directly and solely from the career sections of corporate and employer web sites, the jobs are real, current, and often unadvertised anywhere else on the web. LinkUp’s job postings also contain no duplicate listings for the same job because they are only sourced from a single site – the actual employer posting the job opening.

The LinkUp data above is not meant to present an accurate report on the U.S. economy as a whole. It is, rather, a relevant snapshot of the number of new and total job postings published on a huge number of company web sites from around the country (8,321 companies were included in the data set above). To the extent that the aggregate job growth or decline from a set of 8,000+ companies that post job openings on their company web site is statistically significant, the data may or may not be representative of what is happening in the broader economy. Given the disparity between the LinkUp data and the Department of Labor data, I am not sure that it is representative (though it’s tough to be certain given the constant revising that takes place with the government employment numbers). At any rate, the data above is certainly noteworthy.

As a side note, we significantly improved the methodology of how we obtain our jobs data each month by ‘normalizing’ the data set between months. Because we are adding new companies and employers to our site every month, the data in the past tended to show artificially inflated job numbers in a month to month comparison. Beginning this month, however, the jobs data for month-to-month comparisons will contain the exact same set of employers for the 2 months being reported.

For example, the data for August and September in the chart above is obtained from the exact same 8,321 companies across the U.S. included in the database on August 1st, 2008. In August and September, we added an additional 3,136 companies into the database, and the job postings for those companies and employers are not included anywhere in the chart above. The total 11,457 companies in the database at the end of September will be used to examine job growth or decline between October and November. The same companies in the database as of September 1st will be used to compare September and October job growth or decline. (As a result of this methodology, it is therefore not valid to compare October data or any month thereafter to August data due to the addition of those 3,136 new companies into the data set during August and September).

One of the recent changes we have made in examining LinkUp jobs classifieds data is to report the number of new and total jobs listed on the site by job category and compare them to the previous month. As the chart below indicates, the 3 categories that showed the largest gains in August were Education & Training, Engineering & Architecture, and Technology. Combined, those 3 categories accounted for an increase of 11,403 new job openings on the company web sites being aggregated on LinkUp.com. In terms of declines in new and total job openings, Banking & Financial Services, Sales & Business Development, and Admin & Clerical showed the largest declines.

LinkUp.com aggregates job listings that employers post on their own corporate web site. These job listings or openings are often not advertised anywhere else on the web or in print. As well, the aggregated data, pulled from  9,713 companies of all sizes and in all industries throughout the U.S., does not include any duplicate job listings. But while the data presents a high-quality, unique, and relevant snapshot of the nation’s employment picture, it is not meant to represent the exact number of job openings in any given category. The vast majority of companies in the U.S. do not list their job openings on their company web site, if they even have a corporate web site, and LinkUp is still accumulating data from new companies being included in the data set. (LinkUp’s job data in July included 8,307 companies – 1,406 fewer than the total number of companies included in August’s numbers. This increase in companies being aggregated certainly has an impact on the comparison to July’s numbers).

August employment figures are not scheduled to be released until Friday morning, but if LinkUp data provides any type of early indicator, the nation’s employment picture continued to worsen in August. The number of total job openings posted on corporate web sites dropped 3% from July, while the total number of new openings posted showed no increase at all. While the percentage declines are smaller than they have been in recent months, the overall employment picture remains quite bleak. LinkUp.com aggregates and publishes job listings pulled directly from 9,713 corporate web sites from around the U.S.

In August, a total of 919,833 positions were listed on corporate web sites, down from 947,745 in July and 991,804 in June. Of those job listings, 695,879 were new positions, virtually unchanged from July. Unlike July’s numbers, when over 25% of the decline in total jobs were accounted for by California alone, August’s sharp decline in total jobs was evenly distributed among roughly a dozen states, with Illinois losing the most jobs (4,266). Connecticut showed the largest increase in both total job postings and new job postings, rising by 2,825 total job listings and 3,284 new job listings.

LinkUp.com aggregates job listings that employers post on their own corporate web site. These job listings or openings are often not advertised anywhere else on the web or in print. As well, the aggregated data, pulled from  9,713 companies of all sizes and in all industries throughout the U.S., does not include any duplicate job listings. But while the data presents a high-quality, unique, and relevant snapshot of the nation’s employment picture, it is not meant to represent the exact number of job openings in any given state. The vast majority of companies in the U.S. do not list their job openings on their company web site, if they even have a corporate web site, and LinkUp is still accumulating data from new companies being included in the data set. (LinkUp’s job data in July included 8,307 companies – 1,406 fewer than the total number of companies included in August’s numbers. This increase in the number of companies being factored into the data most likely resulted in a less negative snapshot than was actually the case throughout the country in August).

Thanks, by the way, to Small Business Information Technology Weekly for the excellent review of LinkUp.

Mirroring the figures released by the Department of Labor last week, data released by LinkUp.com on Monday provided further evidence that the nation’s jobs picture deteriorated substantially in July. The number of total job openings posted on corporate web sites dropped 4% from June, while the total number of new openings posted dropped 2%. Even more alarming, only 10 states in the nation showed an increase in the number of total jobs posted, and only 15 states showed an increase in the number of new positions listed. LinkUp.com aggregates and publishes job listings pulled directly from 8,307 corporate web sites from around the U.S.

In July, a total of 947,745 positions were listed on corporate web sites, down from 991,804 in June. Of those job listings, 694,392 were new positions, down from 706,111 new positions listed in June. Over 25% of the decline in total jobs was accounted for by California alone, which saw a decrease of 11,937 total job postings. Maryland showed the largest increase in both total job postings and new job postings, rising by 1,735 total job listings and 2,156 new job listings.

On August 1st, the Department of Labor reported that the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 5.7% in July from 5.5% in June with a total of 51,000 jobs eliminated during the month. For the year, a total of 463,000 jobs have been shed by employers throughout the country. Figures for May and June were revised slightly upward, with 26,000 fewer jobs lost than previously reported. (See related analysis here).

LinkUp.com aggregates job listings that employers post on their own corporate web site. These job listings or openings are often not advertised anywhere else on the web or in print. As well, the aggregated data, pulled from  8,307 companies of all sizes and in all industries throughout the U.S., does not include any duplicate job listings. But while the data presents a high-quality, unique, and relevant snapshot of the nation’s employment picture, it is not meant to represent the exact number of job openings in any given state. The vast majority of companies in the U.S. do not list their job openings on their company web site, if they even have a corporate web site, and LinkUp is still accumulating data from new companies being included in the data set.