Online advertised vacancies dropped 579,000 from May 2007 to May 2008 - Demand for employees fell in all areas of the country
NEW YORK, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- In May 2008, there were 3,795,400 online
advertised job vacancies, a decline of 579,000 or 13.2 percent from the May
2007 level, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data
Series(TM) (HWOL) released today. This is the third consecutive month of
declines for the nation as a whole (year-over-year). In May, there were 2.5
advertised vacancies posted online for every 100 persons in the labor force,
down from a high of 2.9 in May 2007.
"May shows a slight recovery from the large April decline, but overall the
number of online advertised vacancies has been on a downward trend for the
past several months. The demand for labor will likely be sluggish this
summer," said Gad Levanon, economist at The Conference Board. "This lackluster
job outlook is clearly a contributing factor in consumer confidence shrinking
to its lowest point in nearly two decades, as reported by The Conference Board
Consumer Confidence Survey."
THE NATIONAL - REGIONAL PICTURE
-- 2,743,700 new online ads posted in May
-- All nine Census Regions post over-the-year declines in labor demand
In May, 2,743,700 of the 3,795,400 unduplicated online advertised
vacancies were new ads that did not appear in April, while the remainder are
reposted ads from the previous month. In May, a month expected to show a
seasonal increase in labor demand, the number of total online advertised
vacancies increased by 145,500 or 4 percent while new ads rose by 152,200 or 6
percent from April. However, the vulnerable labor demand is clear in the May
year-over-year numbers where total ads fell 13.2 percent and new ads fell 2.5
percent.
The monthly national increase in advertised vacancies between April and
May '08 reflected marginal increases in ads in all nine Census regions.
However, online advertised vacancies in each of the nine Census regions were
below last year's May levels.
STATE HIGHLIGHTS
-- Alaska posts the highest ads rate in the country for the ninth month
in a row
-- Wyoming leads the nation with the lowest supply/demand rate
The number of advertised vacancies declined from May 2007 to May 2008 in
43 states (compared to 44 states in April 2008), and all the states
experienced a slowing in the year-over-year growth rate. The April employment
data released by the BLS indicates that 43 of the 50 states also experienced a
slowing in their year-over-year growth rate of employment.
States where job seekers are continuing to see a large number of
advertised vacancies include Alaska, Nevada and Colorado. Alaska posted 4.98
online advertised vacancies for every 100 persons in the state labor force,
the highest rate in the nation. Alaska has held the number one position for
nine months in a row. Nevada (4.17) and Colorado (4.14) were close behind in
the number of advertised vacancies when adjusted for the size of the state
labor force. Half of the top 10 states with the highest ads rate are west of
the Mississippi and in addition to Alaska, Nevada and Colorado, include
Arizona (3.74) and Washington (3.57). The remaining states were on the East
Coast and include Delaware (3.90), Massachusetts (3.89), Maryland (3.77),
Vermont (3.75) and Connecticut (3.55).
Online advertised vacancies in California, the state with the largest
labor force in the nation, totaled 505,700 in May. The ad volume in California
dropped by nearly 200,000 ads, 28 percent below the May 2007 level. The volume
of online advertised vacancies in Texas (319,600) was down 13 percent and ads
in New York (264,800) were down 16 percent from year ago levels.
"Although one cannot infer that the occupation or geographic location of
unemployed persons matches the occupation or geographic location of the
vacancies, looking at the number of unemployed in relation to the number of
advertised vacancies provides an indication of available job opportunities for
the unemployed," said Levanon. Using the latest unemployment data available
from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (April data) and computing the
supply/demand ratio (unemployed/advertised vacancies), the states with the
most favorable (e.g., lowest) supply/demand rates included Wyoming (0.85),
Maryland (0.94), Delaware (0.95), Massachusetts (0.99) and Utah (0.99). One
bright spot this month was the improvement in the supply/demand rate; there
were five states where the number of advertised vacancies exceeded the number
of unemployed (e.g., a supply/demand rate less than 1.0). This is an
improvement from last month when only two states had a supply/demand rate less
than 1.0, yet still below the peak of 11 states with a supply/demand rate less
than 1.0 in July 2007. For the nation as a whole, the comparable supply/demand
rate for April was 2.0, indicating that for every two unemployed people
looking for work there was only one online advertised vacancy.
States where the number of unemployed persons looking for work
significantly exceeded the number of online advertised vacancies included
Tennessee (2.68), Indiana (2.87), Kentucky (3.29), Michigan (4.04), and
Mississippi (4.67).
OCCUPATIONAL FOCUS
-- Healthcare - Still Leads Occupations in Highest Demand
"Many jobs in high demand are also, on average, among the highest paying
occupations," said Levanon. Healthcare practitioners (219,000) and Management
(191,200) are the two occupations with the most number of ads posted online.
According to the latest federal hourly wage data, wages average about $31 for
healthcare practitioners and $46 an hour for management. Also in high demand
are occupations in computer and mathematical (183,000), business and financial
operations (170,200) and office and administrative support (169,000).
METRO AREAS HIGHLIGHTS
-- Among Top 52 Metro Areas, Only 7 Areas Post Over the Year Gains
In May, 45 of the 52 metro areas for which data is reported separately
posted a smaller number of advertised vacancies than last year. The
deterioration in the job market in some of the nation's largest metro areas is
further reflected in comparing the number of unemployed to the number of
advertised vacancies. Since July 2007, the number of metro areas with a
supply/demand rate of less than one has fallen from 23 areas to 11 areas.
The top metro areas in April as measured by most advertised vacancies per
100 persons in the local labor force included Austin (5.77), Milwaukee (5.57),
Denver (4.93), San Jose (4.87), and San Francisco (4.84).
PROGRAM NOTES
The Conference Board Help-Wanted Online Data Series(TM) measures the
number of new, first-time online jobs and jobs reposted from the previous
month on more than 1,200 major Internet job boards and smaller job boards that
serve niche markets and smaller geographic areas.
Like The Conference Board's long running Help-Wanted Advertising Index of
print ads (which has been published since 1951), the new online series is not
a direct measure of job vacancies. The level of ads in both print and online
may change for reasons not related to overall job demand.
The Conference Board, as a standard practice with new data series,
considers the estimates in The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data
Series(TM) to be developmental. As a not-for-profit business research
organization, The Conference Board is publishing the early years of this
series for use by the media, analysts, researchers and the business community.
Persons using this data are urged to review the information on the database
and methodology available on our website and contact the economists listed at
the top of this release with questions and comments.
Background information and technical notes on this new series are
available at: http://www.conference-board.org/economics/helpwantedOnline.cfm.
The underlying data for this series is provided by WANTED Technologies
Corporation.
Additional information on the Bureau of Labor Statistics data used in this
release can be found on the BLS website, www.bls.gov.
The Conference Board
Non-partisan and not-for-profit, The Conference Board is the world's
leading business membership and research organization. The Conference Board
produces The Consumer Confidence Index and the Leading Economic Indicators for
the U.S. and other major nations. These barometers can have a major impact on
the financial markets. The Conference Board also produces a wide range of
authoritative reports on corporate governance and ethics, human resources and
diversity, executive compensation and corporate citizenship. Our conference
and council programs bring together more than 10,000 senior executives each
year to share insights and learn from each other. Visit The Conference Board's
award-winning website at www.conference-board.org.
WANTED Technologies Corporation
WANTED is a leading supplier of real-time sales and business intelligence
solutions for the media classified and recruitment industries. Using its
proprietary On-Demand data mining, lead generation and CRM (Customer
Relationship Management) integrated technologies, WANTED aggregates real-time
data from thousands of online job boards, real estate and newspaper sites, as
well as corporate Web sites on a daily basis.
WANTED's data is used to optimize sales and to implement marketing
strategies within the classified ad departments of major media organizations,
as well as by staffing firms, advertising agencies and human resources
specialists. For more information, please visit: www.wantedtech.com.
SOURCE The Conference Board
advertised job vacancies, a decline of 579,000 or 13.2 percent from the May
2007 level, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data
Series(TM) (HWOL) released today. This is the third consecutive month of
declines for the nation as a whole (year-over-year). In May, there were 2.5
advertised vacancies posted online for every 100 persons in the labor force,
down from a high of 2.9 in May 2007.
"May shows a slight recovery from the large April decline, but overall the
number of online advertised vacancies has been on a downward trend for the
past several months. The demand for labor will likely be sluggish this
summer," said Gad Levanon, economist at The Conference Board. "This lackluster
job outlook is clearly a contributing factor in consumer confidence shrinking
to its lowest point in nearly two decades, as reported by The Conference Board
Consumer Confidence Survey."
THE NATIONAL - REGIONAL PICTURE
-- 2,743,700 new online ads posted in May
-- All nine Census Regions post over-the-year declines in labor demand
In May, 2,743,700 of the 3,795,400 unduplicated online advertised
vacancies were new ads that did not appear in April, while the remainder are
reposted ads from the previous month. In May, a month expected to show a
seasonal increase in labor demand, the number of total online advertised
vacancies increased by 145,500 or 4 percent while new ads rose by 152,200 or 6
percent from April. However, the vulnerable labor demand is clear in the May
year-over-year numbers where total ads fell 13.2 percent and new ads fell 2.5
percent.
The monthly national increase in advertised vacancies between April and
May '08 reflected marginal increases in ads in all nine Census regions.
However, online advertised vacancies in each of the nine Census regions were
below last year's May levels.
STATE HIGHLIGHTS
-- Alaska posts the highest ads rate in the country for the ninth month
in a row
-- Wyoming leads the nation with the lowest supply/demand rate
The number of advertised vacancies declined from May 2007 to May 2008 in
43 states (compared to 44 states in April 2008), and all the states
experienced a slowing in the year-over-year growth rate. The April employment
data released by the BLS indicates that 43 of the 50 states also experienced a
slowing in their year-over-year growth rate of employment.
States where job seekers are continuing to see a large number of
advertised vacancies include Alaska, Nevada and Colorado. Alaska posted 4.98
online advertised vacancies for every 100 persons in the state labor force,
the highest rate in the nation. Alaska has held the number one position for
nine months in a row. Nevada (4.17) and Colorado (4.14) were close behind in
the number of advertised vacancies when adjusted for the size of the state
labor force. Half of the top 10 states with the highest ads rate are west of
the Mississippi and in addition to Alaska, Nevada and Colorado, include
Arizona (3.74) and Washington (3.57). The remaining states were on the East
Coast and include Delaware (3.90), Massachusetts (3.89), Maryland (3.77),
Vermont (3.75) and Connecticut (3.55).
Online advertised vacancies in California, the state with the largest
labor force in the nation, totaled 505,700 in May. The ad volume in California
dropped by nearly 200,000 ads, 28 percent below the May 2007 level. The volume
of online advertised vacancies in Texas (319,600) was down 13 percent and ads
in New York (264,800) were down 16 percent from year ago levels.
"Although one cannot infer that the occupation or geographic location of
unemployed persons matches the occupation or geographic location of the
vacancies, looking at the number of unemployed in relation to the number of
advertised vacancies provides an indication of available job opportunities for
the unemployed," said Levanon. Using the latest unemployment data available
from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (April data) and computing the
supply/demand ratio (unemployed/advertised vacancies), the states with the
most favorable (e.g., lowest) supply/demand rates included Wyoming (0.85),
Maryland (0.94), Delaware (0.95), Massachusetts (0.99) and Utah (0.99). One
bright spot this month was the improvement in the supply/demand rate; there
were five states where the number of advertised vacancies exceeded the number
of unemployed (e.g., a supply/demand rate less than 1.0). This is an
improvement from last month when only two states had a supply/demand rate less
than 1.0, yet still below the peak of 11 states with a supply/demand rate less
than 1.0 in July 2007. For the nation as a whole, the comparable supply/demand
rate for April was 2.0, indicating that for every two unemployed people
looking for work there was only one online advertised vacancy.
States where the number of unemployed persons looking for work
significantly exceeded the number of online advertised vacancies included
Tennessee (2.68), Indiana (2.87), Kentucky (3.29), Michigan (4.04), and
Mississippi (4.67).
OCCUPATIONAL FOCUS
-- Healthcare - Still Leads Occupations in Highest Demand
"Many jobs in high demand are also, on average, among the highest paying
occupations," said Levanon. Healthcare practitioners (219,000) and Management
(191,200) are the two occupations with the most number of ads posted online.
According to the latest federal hourly wage data, wages average about $31 for
healthcare practitioners and $46 an hour for management. Also in high demand
are occupations in computer and mathematical (183,000), business and financial
operations (170,200) and office and administrative support (169,000).
METRO AREAS HIGHLIGHTS
-- Among Top 52 Metro Areas, Only 7 Areas Post Over the Year Gains
In May, 45 of the 52 metro areas for which data is reported separately
posted a smaller number of advertised vacancies than last year. The
deterioration in the job market in some of the nation's largest metro areas is
further reflected in comparing the number of unemployed to the number of
advertised vacancies. Since July 2007, the number of metro areas with a
supply/demand rate of less than one has fallen from 23 areas to 11 areas.
The top metro areas in April as measured by most advertised vacancies per
100 persons in the local labor force included Austin (5.77), Milwaukee (5.57),
Denver (4.93), San Jose (4.87), and San Francisco (4.84).
PROGRAM NOTES
The Conference Board Help-Wanted Online Data Series(TM) measures the
number of new, first-time online jobs and jobs reposted from the previous
month on more than 1,200 major Internet job boards and smaller job boards that
serve niche markets and smaller geographic areas.
Like The Conference Board's long running Help-Wanted Advertising Index of
print ads (which has been published since 1951), the new online series is not
a direct measure of job vacancies. The level of ads in both print and online
may change for reasons not related to overall job demand.
The Conference Board, as a standard practice with new data series,
considers the estimates in The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data
Series(TM) to be developmental. As a not-for-profit business research
organization, The Conference Board is publishing the early years of this
series for use by the media, analysts, researchers and the business community.
Persons using this data are urged to review the information on the database
and methodology available on our website and contact the economists listed at
the top of this release with questions and comments.
Background information and technical notes on this new series are
available at: http://www.conference-board.org/economics/helpwantedOnline.cfm.
The underlying data for this series is provided by WANTED Technologies
Corporation.
Additional information on the Bureau of Labor Statistics data used in this
release can be found on the BLS website, www.bls.gov.
The Conference Board
Non-partisan and not-for-profit, The Conference Board is the world's
leading business membership and research organization. The Conference Board
produces The Consumer Confidence Index and the Leading Economic Indicators for
the U.S. and other major nations. These barometers can have a major impact on
the financial markets. The Conference Board also produces a wide range of
authoritative reports on corporate governance and ethics, human resources and
diversity, executive compensation and corporate citizenship. Our conference
and council programs bring together more than 10,000 senior executives each
year to share insights and learn from each other. Visit The Conference Board's
award-winning website at www.conference-board.org.
WANTED Technologies Corporation
WANTED is a leading supplier of real-time sales and business intelligence
solutions for the media classified and recruitment industries. Using its
proprietary On-Demand data mining, lead generation and CRM (Customer
Relationship Management) integrated technologies, WANTED aggregates real-time
data from thousands of online job boards, real estate and newspaper sites, as
well as corporate Web sites on a daily basis.
WANTED's data is used to optimize sales and to implement marketing
strategies within the classified ad departments of major media organizations,
as well as by staffing firms, advertising agencies and human resources
specialists. For more information, please visit: www.wantedtech.com.
SOURCE The Conference Board
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