• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

The Conference Board Unveils New Help-Wanted Online Data Series

Posted on: Tuesday, 19 July 2005, 12:00 CDT

NEW YORK, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series(TM) -- which made its debut today -- shows that there were just over 2 million first-time, online job postings appearing on major Internet job boards in June. This figure is essentially unchanged from May and up from 1.8 million new job ads posted online in April.

That means there were 1.39 new online jobs advertised for every 100 people in the labor force (which includes people now working and those seeking jobs). This measure scales the number of help-wanted online ads to adjust for the size of the labor force.

The Conference Board's new online data series provides a monthly count of unduplicated help-wanted job ads posted for the first time on over 1,200 major Internet job boards, including the largest boards as well as some smaller boards that serve niche markets and smaller geographic areas.

Said Janet Norwood, former Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: "This new online help-wanted series is another in the broad array of economic data published by The Conference Board. The Conference Board is to be congratulated on its use of the latest technology in data collection and on its willingness to stimulate user comments to assist The Board in its continuous efforts to improve the quality of its data."

Data for the new online series is provided to The Conference Board by Wanted Technologies, Inc. CareerBuilder.com provides financial support for the new economic series.

NEW ENGLAND, ROCKY MOUNTAIN, PACIFIC TOP ONLINE LIST

New England -- which includes Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island -- led other regions in online job postings in June. Just over 2 new online help-wanted ads were posted for every 100 persons in the New England labor force. Both the Rocky Mountain region (including Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico) and the Pacific region (including Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington) had 1.93 new online help-wanted ads for each 100 labor force participants.

Weakest online job advertising in June was in the West South Central region (including Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas), which offered just under 1 online job ad per 100 people in the labor force.

"While the labor market typically demonstrates positive seasonal growth in advance of summer, the seasonal patterns for this series have not yet been identified," says Ken Goldstein, Labor Economist at The Conference Board. "Internet usage also varies across communities, suggesting that the relationship between the number of new job openings and new job postings differs across geographies. As The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series(TM) grows longer, we will know more about its seasonality and its relationship to other labor market factors."

ABOUT THE NEW ONLINE JOB SERIES

Like The Conference Board's long running Help-Wanted Advertising Index of print ads (which has been published since 1951), the new online series is not a direct measure of job vacancies. The level of ads in both print and online may change for reasons not related to overall job demand. Over the years, analysts have applied various data-smoothing techniques to the Help-Wanted Advertising Index of print ads and determined that it continues to be a useful measure of the state of labor demand in the United States (see Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Economic Letter, #2005-02, January 21, 2005).

The Conference Board, as a standard practice with new data series, considers the estimates in The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series(TM) to be developmental. As a not-for-profit business research organization, The Conference Board is publishing the early months of this series for use by the media, analysts, researchers and the business community. Persons using this data are urged to review the information on the database and methodology available on our website and contact the economists listed at the top of this release with questions and comments.

Background information and technical notes on this new series are available on The Conference Board's website -- http://www.tcb.org/ .

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE BOARD

Non-partisan and not-for-profit, The Conference Board is one of the world's leading business membership and research organizations. The Conference Board produces The Consumer Confidence Index and the Leading Economic Indicators for the U.S. and other major nations. These barometers can have a major impact on the financial markets. The Conference Board also produces a wide range of authoritative reports on corporate governance and ethics, human resources and diversity, executive compensation and corporate citizenship. Our conference and council programs bring together more than 10,000 senior executives each year to share insights and learn from each other. Visit The Conference Board's award-winning website at http://www.conference-board.org/ .

About WANTED Technologies Inc.

Founded in 1997, WANTED Technologies Inc. is a leading provider of real-time sales and business intelligence. Through its proprietary data mining and aggregation technology, WANTED delivers concise, accurate and actionable data, aimed at helping to increase sales and profitability for its clientele throughout North America. WANTED was recently bestowed the Model of Excellence Award by the InfoCommerce Group in recognition of online business innovation. For more information, visit http://www.wantedtech.com/ .

About CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com is the nation's largest online job site with more than 20 million unique visitors and over 1 million jobs. Owned by Tribune Company, Gannett Co., Inc., and Knight Ridder, Inc., the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 550 partners that include 165 newspapers and leading portals such as MSN and America Online. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com/ .

THESE DATA ARE FOR NEWS ANALYSIS PURPOSES ONLY. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION OR PUBLIC POSTING WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION. The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series(TM) Number of New Online Number of New Online Help Help Wanted Ads (in 1000s)** Wanted Ads per 100 Participants in the Labor Force*** Location* April May June April May June National 1,799.3 2,007.1 2,049.9 1.22 1.36 1.39 New England 139.3 157.4 152.2 1.87 2.11 2.04 Mountain 159.7 187.7 196.4 1.58 1.85 1.93 Pacific 389.6 435.1 458.0 1.64 1.84 1.93 South Atlantic 371.7 415.5 431.1 1.35 1.51 1.56 Middle Atlantic 273.6 305.2 291.0 1.37 1.52 1.45 West North Central 108.3 120.2 119.7 1.00 1.11 1.11 East North Central 221.7 246.1 242.4 0.94 1.04 1.03 East South Central 78.1 87.1 83.1 0.93 1.04 1.00 West South Central 137.2 155.4 156.5 0.85 0.96 0.96 Source: The Conference Board

Technical definitions and methodology available at http://www.conference-board.org/

* Boundaries are as defined by the US Census Bureau. ** An online help wanted ad is counted as "New" only in the month it first appears and only once per defined geographic area. *** Help-wanted online ads per 100 participants in the labor force are based on the average of the total number of persons in the labor force for each geographic area over the most recent 6 months as defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The labor force is defined as persons who are employed and those looking for work. THESE DATA ARE FOR NEWS ANALYSIS PURPOSES ONLY. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION OR PUBLIC POSTING WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION. The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series(TM) Number of New Online Help Wanted Ads (in 1000s)** Location* June, 2005 Location* June, 2005 New England 152.2 West North Central 119.7 Boston 54.3 Kansas City 13.9 Hartford 11.6 Minneapolis-St. Paul 23.7 Providence 10.7 Saint Louis 14.1 Mountain 196.4 East North Central 242.4 Denver 36.9 Chicago 58.5 Las Vegas 18.9 Cincinnati 13.2 Phoenix 36.2 Cleveland 14.7 Salt Lake City 15.1 Columbus 10.0 Tucson 7.8 Detroit 16.8 Pacific 458.0 Indianapolis 11.6 Honolulu 5.3 Milwaukee 13.8 Los Angeles 78.7 East South Central 83.1 Portland 19.9 Birmingham 9.1 Riverside 24.0 Louisville 7.7 Sacramento 26.7 Memphis 9.8 San Diego 37.1 Nashville 9.1 San Francisco 41.9 West South Central 156.5 San Jose 19.9 Austin 15.0 Seattle-Tacoma 40.9 Dallas 31.9 South Atlantic 431.1 Houston 30.1 Atlanta 44.3 New Orleans 4.6 Baltimore 22.0 Oklahoma City 5.7 Charlotte 14.6 San Antonio 6.3 Jacksonville 9.8 Middle Atlantic 291.0 Miami 18.3 Buffalo 7.5 Norfolk 29.6 New York 80.5 Orlando 15.7 Philadelphia 34.8 Richmond 10.6 Pittsburgh 12.9 Tampa 30.4 Rochester 4.5 Washington, DC 61.0 Source: The Conference Board

Technical definitions and methodology available at http://www.conference-board.org/

* Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA cities) are as defined by the US Census Bureau. ** An online help wanted ad is counted as "New" only in the month it first appears and only once per defined geographic area.

The Conference Board

CONTACT: Ken Goldstein, +1-212-339-0331, or June Shelp, +1-212-339-0369,or Linda Barrington, +1-212-339-0481, all of The Conference Board

Web site: http://www.conference-board.org/http://www.careerbuilder.com/http://www.wantedtech.com/http://www.tcb.org/

Source: PRNewswire

More News in this Category