New York, NY, November 23, 2005--The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index – a key measure of job offerings in major newspapers across America – was unchanged in October.
The Index now stands at 38, the same as in the previous month. It was 37 one year ago.
In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in eight of the nine U.S. regions. Steepest declines occurred in the Mountain (-15.7%), West North Central (-11.0%) and East North Central (-9.2%) regions. Help-wanted advertising increased in the West South Central (2.4%) region.
Says Ken Goldstein, labor economist at The Conference Board: “The post-holiday labor market will likely remain weak. This is consistent with the slowing trend in The Conference Board Leading Economic Indicators. Hurricanes, flooding and energy prices have all held back growth. But outweighing these concerns is lingering consumer worries about prices starting to rise faster than wages. With slower hiring, and indications that hiring might remain soft in the months ahead, the economy could struggle, setting up a self fulfilling prophecy.”
The number of new online job ads fell to 2,002,600 in October, 36,000 less jobs being offered than in September, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series. In October there were 1.34 online job ads per 100 persons in the U.S. labor force, compared with 1.36 in September and 1.43 per 100 persons in the labor force 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.
