New York, NY, July 27, 2006--The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index - a key measure of job offerings in major newspapers across America - was unchanged in June. The Index now stands at 33. It was 39 one year ago.
The Conference Board, the global business research and membership organization, examines each month help-wanted ads in 51 newspapers and online.
In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in all nine regions of the U.S. Steepest declines occurred in the West North Central (-16.8%), Middle Atlantic (-15.3%) and the Pacific (-13.3%) regions.
Says Ken Goldstein, labor economist at The Conference Board: "The latest data shows that classified job advertising in newspapers held steady in June while the rise in ad volume online continued to slow. These readings had signaled a cooling off in labor demand as early as this past winter. Only 121,000 new jobs opened up in June. The latest ad volume readings suggest that job growth late this summer and going into the fall may be just as slow. Consumers are bracing for just such a development, as indicated in our consumer confidence survey. CEO confidence surveys show that the average executive is no more bullish about the economy in general and the labor market in particular than is the average consumer."
