The recent announcement by the Labor Department that the unemployment rate is now at 4.7 percent is further confirmation that the pool of available candidates looking for work continues to get smaller. Companies who need to fill positions quickly are now in a position where they may not be able to rely on traditional recruiting methods. The challenge for hiring managers has become placing advertising where they have the best opportunity to reach the largest group of talented professionals specific to their industry. With more job seekers accessing the Internet, niche online job boards have become a more valuable resource for hiring managers and recruiters needing to quickly reach qualified talent.

"With such a tight labor market, employers are realizing the value of using an industry specific job board. Companies are looking for the top-rated niche sites because that's where they can find the largest pool of professionals," stated Georgann Smith, vice president of marketing for MEPatWORK.com. "Since the beginning of the year, we have experienced a 58 percent increase in the number of new jobs being posted on our site and a 25 percent increase in our site traffic. This is great news for the thousands of active and passive job seekers who visit our site daily looking for new job opportunities and the companies looking to hire skilled talent."

The skilled labor shortage in the United States is expected to be a continuing trend among most trades. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 550,000 new construction jobs will be created through 2008, but the industry will need to attract 240,000 workers each year to replace those leaving the workforce or retiring. Niche job boards will continue to be an important resource for sourcing talent for the construction industries.