NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 27, 2002--The New York Times Job Market Confidence Index dropped 2.3 points overall to 102.1 in November from 104.4 in October. The Confidence Index measures the perceptions of employers and job seekers in the greater New York metropolitan area.

November's Current Conditions measure of the Index, which looks at respondents' perceptions of the current state of the job market, increased to 129.8 in November from 127.8 in October. However, the Expectations measure of the Index, which considers respondents' expectations concerning the future of the job market in the next six months, dropped to 93.4 in November from 97.5 in October. For these results, February served as the base month, with values equal to 100.0.

"Overall, the consensus is that the current job market is more stable, while there is growing concern about the future job market," said Carl Haacke, economist for the Job Market Confidence Index. "This is driven somewhat by differing views between employers and job seekers. On the one hand, employers are beginning to see some signs of improvement but on the other hand, job seekers see the market as deteriorating."

Key findings for November include:

• The percentage of employers who say that they expect to have "too few" workers in six months to handle their workload rose to its highest level since May, to 26.1 percent.

• Similarly, 24.9 percent of employers say that they expect to hire in the next six months to fill newly created positions, also the highest level since May.

• An increasing number of job seekers believe there will be fewer jobs available in six months, with 34.5 percent stating this as compared to 28.1 percent in October.

• 30.4 percent of job seekers say that they believe it is very or fairly likely that they will be laid off in the next six months, compared to 27.5 percent in October.

• 32.6 percent of job seekers say that they will have less money to spend in the next six months, compared to 23.5 percent in October.

• The percentage of job seekers who have been looking for a job for a year or longer rose to 27.7 percent from 22.1 percent in October.

For the November results, 502 hiring managers and 337 job seekers were interviewed. Interviews are conducted via telephone with random samples of job seekers and hiring managers in the New York metropolitan area. The survey results for each month include responses obtained over the previous two-month period.

About Job Market

Job Market, the print and online recruitment services offering of The New York Times, provides employers and job seekers with comprehensive resources to streamline the recruitment process. Job Market appears in The New York Times every Sunday and is updated throughout the week at NYTimes.com, where job seekers can find job listings, career-related Times articles, exhaustive company research, a resume database and valuable career resources.

Through the newspaper's national audience, which includes 3.9 million weekday readers and 4.8 million Sunday readers as well as the

• 1.1 million readers who visit NYTimes.com every day, The New York Times Job Market reaches a marketplace of high-quality professionals actively seeking new job opportunities or considering career moves.

Each week, The New York Times Job Market issues research on industry trends and workplace practices affecting employers and job seekers in the metropolitan New York region. On a monthly basis, The New York Times Job Market releases its Job Market Confidence Index. The Index tracks current conditions for recruitment in the New York metro area as well as future outlook for the coming six months. Copies of Job Market research reports are available upon request or at NYTimes.com/jobmarket. New York-based Beta Research Corporation, via random telephone interviews, independently conducts The New York Times Job Market research.

NOTE: Job Market research is not affiliated with the editorial operations of The New York Times newspaper and does not reflect the views of the newspaper or its journalists. Source all references to Job Market research as: The New York Times Job Market.

About The New York Times Company

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT), a leading media company with 2001 revenues of $3.0 billion, publishes The New York Times, The Boston Globe and 16 other newspapers; owns eight network-affiliated television stations and two New York radio stations; and has more than 40 Web sites, including NYTimes.com and Boston.com. In 2002 the Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune's list of America's Most Admired Companies. Among all 530 companies on the list, the Company ranked No. 1 in quality of products/services and No. 1 in social responsibility. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

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