NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 31, 2002--The New York Times Job Market Confidence Index dropped 3.7 points to 98.4 in December from 102.1 in November. The Confidence Index measures the perceptions of employers and job seekers in the greater New York metropolitan area.

December's Current Conditions measure of the Index, which looks at respondents's perceptions of the current state of the job market, dropped to 113.4 in December from 129.8 in November. The Expectations measure of the Index, which considers respondents' expectations concerning the future of the job market in six months, rose slightly to 94.0 in December from 93.4. For these results, February served as the base month, with values equal to 100.0.

"Employers seem to be more positive about the job market with a decreasing number laying off last month, fewer expecting to lay off in the future, and more than a third of hiring managers expecting to increase their total workforce in 6 months," said Carl Haacke, economist for the Job Market Confidence Index. "However, job seekers are less confident about the job market, and plan to cut back on future spending as a result."

Key findings for December include:

• Despite the pessimism among job seekers, only 8 percent of employers say that they expect to lay off in the next 6 months, the lowest level since July.

• Only 13 percent of employers said they laid off in the past month, the lowest level since June.

• More than one-third of employers, 35 percent, say that they expect to increase the total number of people employed in their organization in the next 6 months.

• The percentage of job seekers who say that there are currently "very few" jobs available rose to 51 percent in December up from 45 percent in November.

• The average amount of time job seekers have been looking for a job is 7.2 months, and 32 percent of job seekers have been looking for a year or longer. Both are at the highest levels since the index began in February of 2002.

• Job seekers see jobs declining further, with 36 percent saying in December that there will be fewer jobs in the next 6 months, up from 33 percent who said so in November. This sentiment is hurting job seekers's opinion of how much they will be able to spend in the next 6 months, with 35 percent saying in December that they will spend less money in the next 6 months compared to 33 percent who said so in November.

• People employed are also increasingly concerned about the security of their current jobs, with 39 percent saying in December that it is "very likely" or "fairly likely" that they will be laid off in the next 6 months, up from 30 percent in November.

For the December results, 482 hiring managers and 307 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.

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.

This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com and www.nytco.com/community

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