• June 29, 2000

The Conference Board's Help-Wanted Advertising Index declined six points in May. The May reading is 83, down from 89 in April. It was 89 one year ago.

In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in all nine U.S. regions. Steepest declines were in the Middle Atlantic (-14%), East South Central (-11.4%) and East North Central (-11.1%) regions.

Conference Board Economist Ken Goldstein says, "Want-ad volume was off in May, but not precipitously so. One reason for this discrepancy may be that job postings are going to the Internet rather than newspapers. Although there isn't much data to go on, the numbers suggest a leveling off of Internet postings over the same period as well. In both print and electronic postings, the question is whether the drop-off is a temporary phenomenon or if there has indeed been a change at long last in labor market conditions. Given the strength of the overall economy, demand for labor seems unlikely to continue moderating this summer."

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.