The new Minnesota Job Vacancy Survey* shows that job openings have increased by 28 percent from a year ago.  But with 129,000 unemployed workers competing for only 65,000 unfilled jobs, job seekers still outnumber unfilled jobs by two-to-one.

The median wage for all job openings in Minnesota is $10.00 per hour; and sixty percent of all job openings are in occupational groups with a median of below $11.00 per hour.   JOBS NOW's "Cost of Living" research shows that in a Minnesota family of four with both parents working, each worker must earn a statewide average wage of $11.41 per hour just to meet their basic needs without any frills.

Other statewide findings include:

* More than one-third (34 percent) of all job openings are in the three occupational groups with the most job openings—office and administrative support, sales, and food preparation and serving.  The combined median wage for these occupational groups is $8.00 per hour.

* Manufacturing industry job openings are up 100 percent from a year ago; however, the median wage for openings in manufacturing has fallen to $10.00 per hour.

There’s still no evidence of a meaningful shift to high-skill occupations:

* Fewer than two of every five (37 percent) of the state’s job openings require anything beyond a high school degree.

* Only 17 percent of job openings require a four-year college degree.

"If finding a job is a bit easier than it was a year ago, finding a good job remains difficult," said JOBS NOW education director Kevin Ristau. "Inadequate wages are still the biggest problem facing the workforce."

*The State of Minnesota Job Vacancy Survey: Second Quarter 2004, MN Dept. of Employment and Economic Development, August, 2004