Seasonal August Increase in Online Job Demand Offsets Large July Loss

In August 2008, there were 4,833,700 online advertised job vacancies, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series™ (HWOL) released September 3. The August increase of 314,300 offsets July's losses and leaves the overall level of job demand largely unchanged from the June 2008 level. Looking at the new seasonally adjusted national series (which will be officially released with the September 2008 data), job demand in 2008, while somewhat volatile, has remained essentially unchanged.

"We have seen no real improvement in labor demand throughout 2008 and there is little or no indication in the data that there will be a turnaround in employment for the rest of this year," said Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board. Changes in the volume of job advertising typically lead employment trends. "However, the August seasonal rebound is some positive news that American business is still looking for workers," adds Levanon.

Source: The Conference Board; www.Conference-Board.org.

Reprinted with permission. © CCH

Seasonal August Increase in Online Job Demand Offsets Large July Loss In August 2008, there were 4,833,700 online advertised job vacancies, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine Data Series™ (HWOL) released September 3. The August increase of 314,300