Online advertised vacancies fall sharply, Conference Board
02 May '08
1 min read
In April 2008 there were 3,649,900 online advertised job vacancies, a 16.4 percent decline from the April 2007 level, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series (HWOL) released.
This is the second consecutive month of over the year declines for the nation as whole. Even for the six states that posted gains the pace of growth has slowed.
In April, there were 2.4 advertised vacancies posted online for every 100 persons in the labor force, down from a high of 2.9 in April 2007.
“The weakness in online advertised vacancies evident over the last few months deepened in April and hiring is likely to continue to be lackluster into summer,” said Gad Levanon, economist at The Conference Board.
“April is a month when we normally see employers increasing their recruitment, but this year it actually declined. The lack of new job opportunities is contributing to consumers' feelings of uncertainty and is affecting their buying intentions.
With increasing job worries and rising fuel prices, the percentage of respondents intending to take a vacation over the next six months fell to a 30-year low in the April Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey.”