The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index declined two points in March. The Index now stands at 19, down from 29 a year ago.

In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in all nine U.S. regions. Steepest declines occurred in the East North Central (-20.3%), West North Central (-18.1%) and East South Central (-16.7%) regions.

Says Ken Goldstein, Labor Economist at The Conference Board: "Print want-ad volume has shown a slightly declining trend over the past half year. Data for online job ads has also started to edge lower. The cumulative impact of the housing crisis, financial market turmoil, higher energy and other prices is slowing the overall economy and resulting in job cuts and reduced hiring intentions - with the prospect that declines may steepen. The labor market is likely to get worse before it gets better. This is precisely the fear driving consumer and business expectations down to levels only seen during recessions."