JACKSON, Miss. — Online job advertisements rose by 250,000 in May, the largest monthly increase since October 2006, a private research group says.
The Conference Board report said there were about 3.36 million online job ads last month, up from about 3.11 million in April but down from 3.79 million online ads a year earlier.
The May gain was the first monthly increase since a rise of 21,000 in October 2008. And it was the largest since online ads rose 198,300 in October 2006.
While the apparent bounce in labor demand is a welcome sign following sharp declines in the past year, Gad Levanon, senior economist at the New York-based research group, said the May data doesn’t mean the unemployment rate is likely to fall.
“Even with the current positive signs, the likely outlook is for unemployment to continue to rise and employment to fall at more modest levels throughout the summer,” Levanon said this week. “In April, there were 10.6 million more unemployed workers than advertised vacancies.”
Online job ads were up in 43 states last month and Levanon said labor demand, which was plummeting in December and January, now appears to be leveling off.
“Labor demand typically leads the trend in both employment and unemployment, so positive signals on labor demand are always important,” Levanon said. “April and May are both months when businesses typically step up their demand for workers. This year, while April was weak, by May employers were placing ads for workers in numerous locations across the nation.”
The latest numbers follow a dip of 131,000 ads in April, which was well below the record declines of 507,000 and 506,000 in December and January.
Online job ads had declined by more than 1.32 million from November 2008 to April, according to the report.
The Conference Board’s monthly Help-Wanted Online Data Series measures the number of new online jobs and openings re-posted from the previous month on more than 1,200 major Internet job boards and smaller Web sites that serve niche markets.
In the South, Virginia saw the largest increase in online job ads in May with 11,800 new postings, followed by Texas with 11,300, and Maryland with 11,200.
New York showed the sharpest increase with 20,300 in the Northeast, followed by Massachusetts with 10,000 and Pennsylvania with 7,900.
In the West, California had the largest increase with 30,700 new online job ads followed by Colorado with 11,600. But in the Midwest, Michigan, a state hit hard by the downturn in the automotive industry, saw a decrease of 2,100. Illinois had the largest increase with 8,400.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
