Last month, Hiring was up 4.4% for the Fortune 1000.

Hiring Demand is still down 40.1% on these job boards compared to last year. Last month, however, Hiring Demand was down 41.9% on a year-over-year basis. This relative improvement of 1.8% controls for seasonal fluctuations.

Increases in Hiring Demand were led by companies such as AT&T (NYSE:T), which we have featured several times on our weekly Advertiser Watch feature.

Source: WANTED Analytics

© Copyright 2009 WANTED Technologies Corporation

AT&T (NYSE:T) has triggered Gazelles alerts in several US markets, including Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, and St.Louis, all generated by an increase in Hiring Demand for 'Retail Sales Workers'. The number of new AT&T jobs has been climbing steadily since March. AT&T posted 3,375 jobs on Yahoo! HotJobs in August, whereas it only posted 375 ads on HotJobs last year at the same time. AT&T stock has not followed suit, however – share prices have been flat since March.

Source: WANTED Analytics

According to its website, Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI) "provides innovative automotive interiors that help make driving more comfortable, safe and enjoyable. For buildings, it offers products and services that optimize energy use and improve comfort and security." It triggered a Gazelles alert by posting more than 900 jobs on MEPatWork two weeks ago. MEPatWork is an employment site specialized in the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing industries. The historical correlation between the number of job ads and Johnson Controls stock price is 0.59. Johnson Controls stock is up 200% since the market rally started on March 9, 2009.

Source: WANTED Analytics

Airgas is the United States' largest distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases and related equipment. Airgas (NYSE:ARG) triggered a gazelles alert by quintupling its Hiring Demand over the past month, from an average 25 job ads a week to 123 last week. Airgas stock gained 0.8% in today's trading, and the historical correlation between Airgas job ads and its stock price is 0.44.

Source: WANTED Analytics

Nike (NYSE:NKE) showed up on our national Gazelles report by posting three times as many jobs (128) than its average since the start of the year (35 job ads per week). The historical correlation between Nike stock price and the count of its job ads is 0.46.

Source: WANTED Analytics

Finally, Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBB), a consulting shop specialized in the education industry, posted 37 jobs on Yahoo! HotJobs last week, tripling its overall level of Hiring Demand. The most significant job ads are the 9 posted for Marketing Managers – Blackboard had no such postings last year. The 3-year correlation between Blackboard job ads and its stock price is 0.33.

Source: WANTED Analytics

© Copyright 2009 WANTED Technologies Corporation

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), the computer and electronic goods manufacture, has appeared on our Gazelles report for the past 4 weeks running. Its stock price has appreciated 52% since March 9th, 2009. Geographically speaking, Hiring Demand at HP has spiked in the Washington, DC metro area, as well as in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA. The number of job ads in the San Jose area has doubled since April. Hiring Demand has increased for all three of its top occupations. The number of job ads has more than doubled since April for all three main Computer Occupations it is hiring for.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) has triggered a Gazelles alert by showing strong demand for "Management Occupations". Hiring Demand Indicators are well suited for large, sprawling corporations with thousands of employees. Since Hiring Demand is spread out across many many small locations, the aggregate activity of individual locations – without their knowing what other locations are doing – can be reflective of the overall corporate outlook.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

According to Google, "HMSHost is a leading foodservice operator focused on travelers, operating restaurants and eateries in airports, travel plazas, and other locations mostly in North America". HMSHost has shown consistent upward progression in Hiring Demand for the previous 5 months. Hiring Demand for "Cashiers", "First-Line Supervisors/Manager of Retail Sales Workers", and "First-Line Supervisors/Manager of Food Preparation and Serving Workers" have been climbing in tandem. This corresponds to our post which mentions that despite the financial crisis, food retailers have been performing well in New York City.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

AT&T (NYSE:T) continues to aggressively post for "Retail Salespersons" in all US markets. "First-Line Supervisors/Managers of Retail Sales Workers" are also in demand. AT&T stock has been in a slow downward trend since early 2009. AT&T seems to be more bullish on its business than investors.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

Booz Allen Hamilton, "a leading strategy and technology consulting firm" according to its website, has increased its recruitment efforts. Booz Allen Hamilton has its corporate campus in McLean, VA, and Hiring Demand has surged markedly in the Washington, DC market, signaling strong growth in its core business. It has posted more new job ads for Computer Systems Analysts in June 2009 than it has in any month over the past three years – there were 538 such job ads in June, whereas there've  been only 341, 317, or 357 new ads in the previous three months. What's more, Booz Allen Hamilton has more than doubled the number of job ads for Market Research Analysts to 185 new job ads in June. According to our S/D Ratios, Washington, DC is a great market for IT workers, and this employer should be targeted by unemployed computer specialists in other markets who are willing to relocate for new positions.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS), the book and music retailer, has once again appeared on our Gazelles report. Not only did "Barnes & Noble Booksellers" trigger a Gazelles alert, but "Barnes & Noble.com" also appeared in our Gazelles report. The corporate website advertised 37 positions last month compared to an average 29 postings a month over the past year, a 28% increase. Hiring Demand for Retail Salespersons and their Managers, as well as Food Managers, lead the pack. Hiring Demand has cooled off slightly in the past couple weeks, as has its stock price. Nonetheless, Hiring Demand is progressing at a constant and consistent upward rate, and Barnes & Noble stock gained 6.77% in yesterday's trading.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

We have featured General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) before. This week, two distinct operating units triggered Gazelle alerts: "General Dynamics Information Technology" and "General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems". After posting 900 to 1,100 Computer and Mathematical Occupation jobs a week in May and early June, General Dynamics experienced lowered Hiring Demand the last two weeks of June. However, since then, General Dynamics has posted 1,361 and 1,053 new job ads for IT workers. Movements in stock price have followed Hiring Demand quite closely since March.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) has consistently appeared on our Gazelles report. Hiring Demand for "Services Sales Representatives" has been climbing, and spiked during the week starting Sunday July 5th. Last week, demand dropped a little, but that has not stopped the overall upward trend.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

© Copyright 2009 WANTED Technologies Corporation

AT&T (NYSE: T) has appeared in our weekly Gazelles report for the past three weeks. Spikes in Hiring Demand for AT&T have mostly been concentrated in Sales occupations – it has more than doubled the number of new job ads placed on a weekly basis, moving from an average 2,700 job postings to 6,000 last week.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK) manufactures heavy duty vehicle and vehicle parts, such as fire trucks, military purposed vehicles for the United States Department of Defense, or other heavy-duty haul or specialty transportation vehicles. Oshkosh Corporation was a top gainer on July 1, 2009. Hiring Demand at Oshkosh has been on an upward trend since December, and has tripled over the past two months.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

MarineMax (NYSE: HZO) was also a top gainer on July 1, 2009.  MarineMax showed up on this week's Gazelles report, but it has also had impressive surges in Hiring Demand in February and March.  Its stock price has finally caught up to these surges, moving from $1.19 on March 9th to a high of $6.05 on May 5th, to settle around $3.50 this week.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:HOT), the leisure and hotel chain, has seen its stock price more than double since mid March.  Its Hiring Demand is also trending back upwards, after a significant slowdown.  In fact, Hiring Demand has been cut by a factor of five, and its stock price has fallen five-fold since May 2008.  Both are trending back upwards, however.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

Finally, Dollar General Corporation, which is not publicly traded but is ranked #259 on the Fortune 1000 list, has shown constant progression since early 2008. This is consistent with Wal-Mart's recent success in these difficult economic times, as consumers move towards lower-end retailers.

Source: WANTED Analytics 2.0

© Copyright 2009 WANTED Technologies Corporation