Although higher education job growth remained moderate in numbers during the first quarter of 2012, it is still outpacing overall job growth, according to a new report by HigherEdJobs, a job source for the academia industry.

Based on an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by HigherEdJobs, the number of higher education jobs increased by 1.8 percent during the first quarter of 2012 while overall job growth increased by 1.5 percent. During the first quarter of 2011, the number of higher education jobs rose by 2.6 percent as overall job growth increased by 1.1 percent for a gap of 1.5 percentage points.

The report also shows that the increase in higher education job openings decelerated in early 2012; however, it was still at a quicker pace than the change in the number of higher education jobs. During the first quarter of 2012, the number of higher education job postings was up 21.1 percent, but that is down from 38.5 percent growth in the first quarter of 2011.