• by adam.m , Michael Deibert , July 1, 2005

Job ads in print newspapers dipped in May, according to a report released Thursday by the Conference Board--but online job ads have continued to grow.

The Conference Board's May Help-Wanted Advertising Index, which surveys help-wanted advertising volume in print editions of 51 major newspapers monthly, dipped two points in May, standing at 37 from 39 in April and in May of 2004. The Board's survey showed help-wanted declining in all nine U.S. geographic regions, with the sharpest dips occurring in the Mountain region (where ads fell 15.4 percent), South Atlantic (decline of 13.9 percent), and East South Central (11.7 percent drop).

These figures stand in marked contrast to recent data from Corzen, a New York research firm, which recently released a survey revealing that listings for jobs posted on three major online job clearinghouses have grown exponentially over the last year. May job postings on the CareerBuilder Web site rose to 1,322,812 last month from 1,105,120 in May 2004; listings on HotJobs climbed to 589,883 from 464,259 over the same time period; and Monster job listings increased from 998,544 to 1,157,576, according to Corzen.

Monster, which also releases its own monthly employment index, reported that its index rose three points in May to 134 from 131 in April and 105 in May 2004--with online demand for workers rising in 17 of 20 industries in May, and management leading the way.

The online Craigslist network, a vast repository of classifieds advertising for everything from jobs to apartments to more salacious offerings, also has experienced impressive growth, with the number of visitors tripling in the past year to 2.4 billion a month.

One chief attraction of the online classifieds, industry insiders say, is the speed with which it facilitates exchanges between interested parties.

"Online has become a more mainstream medium, and we certainly see that in the employer or job seekers use our site," says Jenny Sullivan, a spokesperson for CareerBuilder. "The appeal of online is that it helps expedite the hiring process, though print is a trusted medium that is not going away, and there's going to continue to be a need for both."