THE NATIONAL - REGIONAL PICTURE
* 2,591,500 new online job ads posted in April
* All Nine Census Regions post over-the-year declines in labor demand
In April, 2,591,500 of the 3,649,900 unduplicated online advertised vacancies were new ads that did not appear in March, while the remainder are reposted ads from the previous month. In April, a month expected to show a seasonal increase in labor demand, the number of total online advertised vacancies declined 2 percent while new ads rose 2 percent from March. The weak labor demand is clear in the April year-over-year numbers where total ads fell 16.4 percent and new ads dropped 10.6 percent. Both declines are the largest over the year declines since the HWOL series began in May 2005. The monthly national decrease in advertised vacancies between March and April '08 reflected deterioration in ads in all nine Census regions. Additionally, the year-over-year (April '07 - April '08) growth rates in each of the nine Census regions turned negative in April.
STATE HIGHLIGHTS
* Alaska posts the highest ads rate in the country for the eighth month in a row
* Delaware leads the nation with the lowest supply/demand rate
The number of advertised vacancies declined from April 2007 to April 2008 in 44 states (compared to 14 states in March 2008), and all the states experienced a slowing in the year-over-year growth rate. The March employment data released by the BLS indicates that all 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 Massachusetts. Alaska posted 4.45 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 eight months in a row. Nevada (4.09) and Massachusetts (3.97) 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 along the Eastern seaboard, and in addition to Massachusetts, include Delaware (3.96), Maryland (3.67), Vermont (3.53) and Connecticut (3.48).
Online advertised vacancies in California, the state with the largest labor force in the nation, totaled 491,400 in April. The ad volume in California dropped by over 231,000 ads, 32 percent below the April 2007 level. The volume of online advertised vacancies in Texas (309,900) was down 12 percent and ads in New York (268,000) were down 15 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) (March data) and computing the supply/demand ratio (unemployed/advertised vacancies), the states with the most favorable (e.g., lowest) supply/demand rates included Delaware (0.93), Maryland (0.95) and Arizona (1.02). This month, there were only two states where the number of advertised vacancies exceeded the number of unemployed (e.g., a supply/demand rate less than 1.0). This is down from last month, when four states had a supply/demand rate less than 1.0, and well 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 March was 2.15, 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 (3.06), Indiana (3.54), Kentucky (3.71), Michigan (4.93), and Mississippi (5.17).
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 (238,500) and Management (195,800) are the two occupations with the most number of ads posted online. According to the latest federal hourly wage data, wages average about $30 for healthcare practitioners and above $44 an hour for management. Also in high demand are occupation in computer and mathematical (180,400), business and financial operations (173,000) and office and administrative support (170,500).
METRO AREA HIGHLIGHTS
* Among Top 52 Metro Areas Only Honolulu, Milwaukee and Rochester Post Over the Year Gains
In April, 49 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 ten areas.
The top metro areas in March as measured by most advertised vacancies per 100 persons in the local labor force included Austin (5.40), Milwaukee (5.34), San Jose (5.12), San Francisco (4.88), and Denver (4.64).
