This is a plot of the total Google search traffic for the word "job": http://www.google.com/trends?q=job&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0
The pattern is consistent over several years and it is very interesting:
- Somewhat stable for the first 3 quarters of the year.
- Then drops sharply towards the end of the year.
- Bottoms out in late Dec and then rises sharply and peaks in Jan.
Any explanation for this pattern? Could it be that people put aside job search during the Holidays season (Nov/Dec) and then start looking again late Dec (after they had enough time off and after they realize how much money they spent on gifts and hence how much they need a job) or early Jan (excited about their new year resolutions)?
An alternative explanation is this. Companies hire a lot of people just before the holidays season because of the expected high sales (in addition to the extra accounting work at the end of the fiscal year) and then lay them off at the end of the season. So, during the holiday season less people are unemployed and hence less people search for jobs. Then at the end of the season the trend reverses.
Equally interesting and surprisingly similar is the pattern on a weekly basis as shown in this plot for the last 30 days: http://www.google.com/trends?q=job&ctab=0&geo=all&date=mtd&sort=0
Again, slows down towards the end of the week then bottoms out on Sunday and picks up then peaks on Monday.
