Help-wanted advertising fell in April, according to the Conference Board's Help-Wanted
Advertising Index - a barometer of America's job market. The index now stands
at 35, down from 38 in March. It was 47 one year ago.
In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in all nine regions
of the United States. Steepest declines occurred in the East South Central (-32.0
percent), Middle Atlantic (-18.4 percent), Pacific (-16.4 percent) and New England
(-15.7 percent) regions.
"April may represent a low point for the ailing labor market," says
Ken Goldstein, an economist with the Conference Board. "After initial unemployment
claims revealed a big rise in layoffs, want-ad volume significantly declined
from already very depressed levels. Clearly, businesses have been busy laying
off workers and scaling back already greatly reduced plans to hire. If the overall
economy remains weak heading into the third quarter, a return to job growth
earlier than the fourth quarter doesn't seem likely."
The Conference Board surveys help-wanted advertising volume in 51 major newspapers
across the country every month. The organization says ad volume has proven to
be sensitive to labor market conditions, and this measure provides an important
gauge of change in the local, regional and national supply of jobs.
Latest seasonally adjusted results:
April
03
March
03
Feb.03
March
02
National
Index
35
38
40
47
Proportion
of Labor Markets With rising Want-ad Volume
