New York, May 27--The Conference Board’s Help-Wanted Advertising Index – a key barometer of America's job market – declined one point in April.
The Index now stands at 38, down from 39 the previous month. The Index was 37 one year ago.
In the last three months, help-wanted advertising increased in five of the nine U.S. regions. The largest increases occurred in the Mountain (12.6%) and South Atlantic (11.1%) regions. The decreases in the other four regions were modest, with the exception of the East South Central region, which declined 19.4% in the last three months.
Says Conference Board Economist Ken Goldstein: “No one expects the economy to continue delivering over a half million new jobs every two months. The data on want-ad volume suggests the pace of hiring will moderate. Nevertheless, a return to a jobless expansion is not in the cards. The big change in the labor market has been more jobs opening up while fewer jobs are lost. The only change in these conditions is probably to a moderate but sustainable pace of job openings this summer. The loss of one point in the index in each of the past two months is not consistent with any significant drop in labor market activity just around the corner.”
The Conference Board surveys help-wanted 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.
Apr. 04 Mar. 04 Feb. 04 Apr. 03
National Index 38 39 40 37
Proportion of Labor MarketsWith Rising Want-Ad Volume 43% 22% 63% 22%
Unemployment Rate 5.6% 5.7% 5.6% 6.0%
