Says Ken Goldstein, labor economist at The Conference Board: "There's been speculation that the economy won't be much stronger this summer than it was in the first quarter. The Leading Economic Indicators have been relatively soft in recent months. Print want-ad volume was flat in April. Online advertising was a little stronger. The JOLTS data (Job Openings and Labor Turnover) showed no negative change through March. These data suggest there is a chance that the labor market might continue to open up new jobs at a pace of about 120,000 to 130,000 new jobs a month this summer — about the same pace as in the spring."
Online Advertised Job Vacancies Inch Up
Total online job ads were 4,374,400 in May, an increase of 9,000 or 0.2 percent from April, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series. There were 2.9 advertised vacancies online for every 100 persons in the labor force in May.
ABOUT THE HELP-WANTED ADVERTISING INDEX
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.
