NEW YORK, Jun 11, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The New York Times Job Market Confidence Index dropped 6.9 points in May to 109.7 from 116.6 in April, reversing an upward trend over the previous two months.

The Confidence Index measures the perceptions of employers and job seekers actively seeking employment in the greater New York metropolitan area.

Job seekers reported lengthening job searches and decreasing confidence in their abilities to find jobs in the next month, while those job seekers who are currently employed believed it would be difficult for them to find new jobs with similar salaries. An increasing number of hiring managers say that they have more employees than they need to handle their current workload.

The May Current Conditions measure of the Index, which looks at respondents' perceptions of the current state of the job market, dropped to 135.7 from 143.3 in April. The Expectations measure of the Index, which considers respondents' expectations concerning the future of the job market in six months, dropped to 101.6 from 108.0. For these results, February 2002 served as the base month, with values equal to 100.0.

This is the latest in a series of reports issued by the Job Market Research team based on ongoing original research of trends and practices in employment in the greater New York metropolitan area. Key findings for May include:

-- The percentage of employers who say that they have too many employees to handle their current workload rose to 14% from 10%.
-- The average number of weeks it takes companies to fill vacant positions rose to 4.8 weeks from 3.8 weeks.
-- The average number of months job seekers have been looking for a job rose to 5 months from 4.5 months.
-- A growing share, 14% up from 10%, of those currently employed say that their workload is low.
-- A growing share of those employed, 38% up from 31%, say that it would not be easy for them to find jobs with other employers that offered equivalent salaries and fringe benefits.
-- Job seekers report that they are less confident they will find a job in the next month, with 41% saying they are "not too confident" or "not at all confident," up from 29%.

For the May research results, 500 employers and 400 job seekers were chosen at random from the New York metropolitan area and interviewed by telephone over the months of April and May. The survey results for each month include responses obtained over the previous two-month period.

More detailed results of this research, designed and executed by The New York Times advertising department, will be posted regularly on the Job Market page at NYTimes.com. Questions or comments can be e-mailed to jobmarketresearch@nytimes.com.

The New York Times Job Market provides employers with a convenient way to reach the best talent and the broadest audience in the New York area with a single integrated advertising buy. Employers are now able to view their job listings in both the newspaper and in a searchable database online at NYTimes.com/jobmarket. The Job Market section online also includes career-related Times articles, exhaustive research on companies, a resume database and other tools designed to make the job recruitment process easier for both employers and job seekers.

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