EXAMINING America’s internet search history can reveal all manner of surprising information about the country’s collective interests. It can also tell you what kind of jobs people want. Of those without work, or perhaps seeking a career change, some search for a specific role or sector, but others already have a desired company-of-choice in mind. An examination of Google search data reveals the most popular employer by sector and year allowing trend comparisons from state-to-state. Careers in package delivery are in high demand it seems. Over the past 12 months, United Parcel Service (UPS) was the most searched-for employer in 12 states and appeared in the top 3 searches across a total of 23 states, predominantly in the south and Midwest. Elsewhere, education and health dominate, with searches for roles at universities coming top in 13 states, and health-care jobs in seven others. These two sectors were among the biggest growers in 2015, education adding 305,000 jobs in the year to June, and health care adding 293,700.









Studying the sectors that feature heaviest on the map can act as a crude indicator of the state of the labour market. It shows people predominantly searched for employers in lower-paid sectors, those with an average weekly wage close-to or below that for all private companies. Looking back to 2008-09, popularity for UPS jobs proved even greater—the company was the top search in 31 states during the recession. But in the intervening years, interest in UPS waned, it topped just five states in 2011-12. Job searches in manufacturing, education and healthcare took its place in that period, a sign perhaps of renewed economic optimism. If that is indeed the case, what to make of UPS’s resurgence among online job hunters today?









CORRECTION: The 2014-15 top search results for Utah and South Dakota were previously inaccurate, this has now been corrected