The Monster Employment Index Europe held largely steady in July with a one point uptick due to strong growth in Germany offsetting broad declines elsewhere. Year-on-year growth was 19 points, or 13 percent, consistent with sustained expansion in the EU labour market but also marking the lowest growth reading since March 2007, a sign that European recruitment activity is decelerating·

Vacancies in the production, manufacturing, maintenance, and repair sector rose sharply in July for the third consecutive month as tight hiring conditions for factory workers continued fuelling employers' recruitment efforts. Opportunities in related industries such as engineering, R&D, and transportation also surged. Architecture and urbanism, by contrast, saw the steepest dip among all sectors for the second consecutive month ·

Among the major markets, demand rose only in Germany and Italy while Sweden reported the largest decline dropping 19 points, or ten percent. Sweden, Netherlands and Belgium now all show fewer offerings than a year ago

Summary Overview

European online hiring activity remained mostly steady in July as weaker demand in Scandinavia, Benelux and the UK was offset by sustained growth in Germany and Italy. Noticeably, both Sweden and Netherlands fell below year-ago levels in the Index for the first time since inception. While fewer offerings were seen across Europe in professional service industries such as accounting, architecture, and legal, demand continued higher in healthcare, tourism and manufacturing.

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.