New York, NY, October 27, 2005--The Conference Board help-wanted advertising index inched up one point in September. The Index now stands at 39, up from 38 last month. It was 36 one year ago.
In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in six of the nine U.S. regions. The most dramatic increase occurred in the East South Central region (56.6%), which includes Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee. Increases also occurred in the Mountain (4.4%) and West South Central (2.1%) regions.
Says Ken Goldstein, Labor Economist at The Conference Board: “The print ad volume data for the East and West South Central regions show a marked upturn in September. The dislocations caused by the storms and flooding prompted some ad volume that presumably would not otherwise take place. Some of the dislocations could be for extended periods, if not permanent. Ad volume increases in markets like Houston or Memphis are probably a reflection of both near-term and longer-term impacts — which would explain the big increases suddenly in September after much more modest changes in the last two years.”
Online want-ad volume dipped in September. The number of new online job ads declined to 2,038,500 in September, according to the Conference Board’s help-wanted OnLine Data Series.
This latest monthly figure is down 4.4 percent from August, with fewer jobs being offered in all 9 major regions of the country. There were 1.36 online job ads per 100 persons in the U.S. labor force in September compared with 1.43 per 100 persons in August.
The Conference Board surveys help-wanted print advertising volume in 51 major newspapers across the country every month. Because ad volume has proven to be sensitive to labor market conditions, this measure provides a gauge of change in the local, regional and national supply of jobs.
