Seattle and Tacoma had 81,490 job openings in December, up 2.83% from November

The number of job openings in Seattle and Tacoma increased 2.83% to 81,490 in December from the month before. That increase was sharply higher than the 1.73% increase nationwide according to Simply Hired, a job search engine.

The Top Hiring Companies in Seattle and Tacoma in order were:

1. Amazon
2. Microsoft
3. University of Washington
4. Providence Health & Services
5. Catholic Health Initiatives

For more details, you can download a full copy of the January 2015 Employment Report here.

The full press release is here:

Sunnyvale, CA January 8, 2015 Simply Hired, the largest independent job search engine with properties in 24 countries and 12 languages, today released its January 2015 U.S. Employment Outlook report. The new report finds that nationwide job openings increased 1.73% month-over-month in December 2014. This represents a substantial gain over the 0.06% increase reported by Simply Hired for November 2014, and marks the fifth consecutive month of positive growth in job listings.

The Simply Hired Employment Outlook shows good news in the new year for job seekers, said James Beriker, President and CEO of Simply Hired. Job listings grew 1.73% in December 2014, which is an important leading indicator of hiring in the months to come. Buoyed by more than a quarter of positive job growth, job seekers have significant opportunities for employment heading into 2015.

Key findings from the monthly Simply Hired Employment Outlook report include:

• Job openings increase across the U.S. Nationwide job openings grew 1.73% month-over-month in December 2014. This represents a substantial gain over the 0.06% increase reported by Simply Hired for November 2014, and marks the fifth consecutive month of positive growth in job listings.

• All of the top 25 major metros post gains. Job openings increased in 25 of the top 25 largest U.S. metros in December 2014. The largest month-over-month gains were seen in Charlotte, NC (4.78%) and Washington, DC (4.43%).

• Diverse industries and occupations experience growth. Job openings increased in 7 out of 18 industries in December 2014, with military (24.54%), non-profit (21.05%) and hospitality (8.48%) seeing the largest rise. A majority of occupation categories (35 out of 54) experienced growth over this period, with aviation workers (16.57%) and water vessel operators (15.88%) posting the largest month-over-month gains.

• Healthcare continues as industry with greatest job inventory. Nearly one-half of the top posting companies in December 2014 were healthcare-related. There were also a significant number of job openings at financial services and technology companies.

• Metro highlight: Denver, CO: Simply Hired data for the Denver region identifies healthcare, financial services and technology as the top posting industries in the metro region. The areas top posting companies include Centura Health (#1), Banner Health (#2), Vail Resorts (#3), HealthONE (#4) and HCA Healthcare (#5).