Online Job Demand Up 139,200 in July, The Conference Board Reports

NEW YORK, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Online advertised vacancies rose 139,200 in July to 4,293,300 following a very small increase in June, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine™ (HWOL) Data Series released today.  The gap between the number of unemployed and advertised vacancies (supply/demand rate) stood at 3.52 unemployed for every advertised vacancy in June (the last available unemployment data) but is down from its peak of 4.73 in October 2009.

"After rising sharply in December and January, online job demand for the nation as a whole has settled into a more modest pattern over the last six months, with increases that have averaged about 43,000 per month," said June Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board. "The gains in job demand vary across the country with some East Coast states —New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland—posting steady and strong upward trends throughout this year. Steady but more modest improvement better characterizes online job demand in other states like Washington, Ohio, Oregon and Texas."

REGIONAL AND STATE HIGHLIGHTS

• July job demand strong in the majority of the largest States

In the West labor demand increased by 56,600, bolstered by a rise of 34,800 in California, the region's most populous State. California experienced a spurt in labor demand in both computing & mathematical and office & administrative support positions. Colorado and Arizona experienced increases of 9,100 and 7,900 respectively after experiencing declines in the previous two months. Colorado's level is at its highest since November 2008. Washington State fell 2,400.  Among the smaller States, Hawaii rose 3,300, Alaska gained 2,300, Oregon increased by 1,200, and New Mexico rose 700 while Nevada dropped 2,100.

The Midwest rose this month by 42,800.  After a combined loss of 12,000 in May and June, Illinois experienced the largest gain in the region (16,800) and reached its highest level since August 2008.  Illinois' gain was largely due to a rise in ads for management positions.  Michigan gained 8,300 after a 2-month loss of 5,000 and reached its all-time highest level, and Minnesota rose 7,300 to its highest level since November 2008.  Missouri increased by 6,300 after losing 8,900 in the previous 2 months.  After gains in June, Wisconsin and Ohio dropped 5,000 and 1,600 respectively.  Among the States with smaller populations, Indiana gained 2,000 while North Dakota gained 1,000.

Online advertised vacancies in the South rose in July by 30,000, reflecting gains in four out of the six large States.  With an increase in management positions, Florida led the way with a gain of 7,600.  Georgia rose 7,200 after a 9,800 decline in the previous 2 months.  North Carolina rose 5,600 and reached its highest level since the HWOL series began in 2005.  Maryland rose 5,300 to its highest level since November 2008.  Virginia and Texas lost 7,500 and 5,200 respectively.  Among the less populous states in the South, advertised vacancies in Louisiana increased by 4,700, Oklahoma increased by 2,200, and Kentucky increased by 700.

The Northeast region grew at a slower pace this month; it gained 12,900 online advertised agencies.  After a surge in June (23,775), New York rose 6,800 in July to its highest level since March 2008.  Massachusetts gained 1,600.  New Jersey held constant and remains at its highest level since March 2008 after gaining over 30,000 in the previous 3 months combined.  Pennsylvania dropped 6,800 after a 4-month gain of 26,600.  Among the smaller States, after a sluggish period in May and June, Connecticut and Maine gained 4,500 and 1,600 respectively.  New Hampshire (1,700), Rhode Island (1,400), and Vermont (1,300) have maintained steady growth for the past 3 months.

The Supply/Demand rate for the U.S. in June (the latest month for which unemployment numbers are available) was at 3.52, indicating that there are just under 4 unemployed workers for every online advertised vacancy.  Nationally, there are almost 10.5 million more unemployed workers than advertised vacancies.  States with some of the lowest rates include North Dakota (1.05), South Dakota (1.33), Nebraska (1.54), and Alaska (1.60), where the Supply/Demand rates reflected the fact that there was just over one unemployed for every online advertised vacancy.  Among the States, the highest Supply/Demand rates are in Mississippi (7.90) and Michigan (7.15), where there are over 7 unemployed people for every advertised vacancy.  Although still among the highest in the nation, Michigan's S/D rate has improved significantly from the 10.2 in July 2009 when there were just over 10 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy.  Other states where there are over 5 unemployed for every advertised vacancy are Indiana (5.41), California (5.37), and Kentucky (5.21).

It should be noted that the Supply/Demand rate only provides a measure of relative tightness of the individual state labor markets and does not suggest that the occupations of the unemployed directly align with the occupations of the advertised vacancies (see Occupational Highlights section).

OCCUPATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Demand for Office and Administrative Support up sharply by 55,100
• In July, management workers advertised vacancies rise 40,200
• Demand for Healthcare Practitioners and Technical workers dips 18,400

Among the top 10 occupation groups with the largest numbers of online advertised vacancies, Management occupations posted the largest July increase, up 40,200 to 580,500.  The July rise was largely due to increases in demand for marketing managers, computer and information systems managers, sales managers, and medical and health services managers.  Advertised vacancies in this field are at their highest level since June 2008.  The ratio between the number of unemployed looking for work and advertised vacancies was slightly over one job-seeker for each advertised vacancy.

Demand for Office and Administrative Support jumped by 55,100 and was led by an increased demand for a wide variety of office staff positions including secretaries, general office clerks, executive secretaries and administrative assistants, and HR assistants (except payroll and timekeeping).  California, the state with the largest increase in total job demand, also had the largest increase in advertised vacancies in office and administrative support.  There still remain over four unemployed (4.3) looking for work in Office and Administrative Support for every advertised opening.

Computer and Mathematical Science occupations were up 31,800 to 586,700 in July.  The rise was largely due to increases in demand for computer systems analysts, computer software engineers (applications), and computer support specialists.  Advertised vacancies in this field are at their highest level since September 2008.  Demand for workers in this occupational category exceeds the number of unemployed looking for work by just under 3 to 1.

Demand for Business and Financial Operations rose 15,000 to 230,600.  The July increase was largely due to increases in demand for wholesale and retail buyers and personal financial advisors.  Advertised vacancies in this field are at their highest level since November 2008.  Like Management occupations, the ratio between the number of unemployed looking for work and advertised vacancies was slightly over one job-seeker for each advertised vacancy.

Demand for Architecture and Engineering occupations rose 10,500 to 170,000.  The July increase was largely due to increases in demand for industrial engineers and computer hardware engineers.  Advertised vacancies in this field are at their highest level since November 2008.  Advertised vacancies in this field outnumbered the unemployed looking for work in this field by 1.2 to 1.

Labor demand for Healthcare Practitioners and Technical occupations dropped 18,400 in July to 573,900.  The drop was largely due to decreases in advertised vacancies for physical and occupational therapists, speech pathologists, pharmacists, and physicians and surgeons, all other.

Healthcare is a broad field, and the relative tightness of the labor market varies substantially from the higher-paying practitioner and technical jobs to the lower-paying support occupations.  In June, the latest month for which unemployment data are available, advertised vacancies for healthcare practitioners or technical occupations outnumbered the unemployed looking for work in this field by over 2 to 1, and the average wage in these occupations is $33.51/hour.  In sharp contrast, the average wage for healthcare support occupations is $12.84/hour and there were over 2 unemployed looking for work in the field for every advertised vacancy.

Supply/Demand rates indicated that, among the occupations with the largest number of online advertised vacancies, there is a significant difference in the number of unemployed seeking positions in these occupations.  Among the top ten occupations advertised online, there were more vacancies than unemployed people seeking positions for Computer and Mathematical Science (0.4), Healthcare Practitioners (0.5), and Architecture and Engineering (0.8).  On the other hand, in Transportation and Material Moving, there were over eight people seeking jobs in this field for every online advertised vacancy (8.3) and there were over four unemployed looking for work in Installation, Maintenance, and Repair positions for every advertised opening (4.8).

METRO AREA HIGHLIGHTS

• Washington, D.C., Oklahoma City, and Baltimore have the lowest Supply/Demand rates
• Online advertised vacancies in all of  the 52 largest metropolitan areas are above last year's levels

In July, all of the 52 metropolitan areas for which data are reported separately posted over-the-year increases in the number of online advertised vacancies.  Among the three metro areas with the largest numbers of advertised vacancies, the New York metro area was 40 percent above its July 2009 level, the Washington, D.C. metro area was 22 percent above its July 2009 level, and the Los Angeles metro area was 20 percent above last year's level.

The number of unemployed exceeded the number of advertised vacancies in all of the 52 metro areas for which information is reported separately.  Washington, D.C., Oklahoma City, and Baltimore were the locations with the most favorable supply/demand rates, where the number of unemployed looking for work was only slightly larger than the number of advertised vacancies.  On the other hand, metro areas in which the respective number of unemployed is substantially above the number of online advertised vacancies include Riverside, CA –where there are over 10 unemployed people for every advertised vacancy (10.4) – Detroit (7.3), Miami (5.5), and Sacramento (5.0).  Supply/Demand rate data are for June 2010, the latest month for which unemployment data for local areas are available.

PROGRAM NOTES

The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine™ Data Series measures the number of new, first-time online jobs and jobs reposted from the previous month on more than 1,200 major Internet job boards and smaller job boards that serve niche markets and smaller geographic areas.

Like The Conference Board's long-running Help Wanted Advertising Index of print ads (which was published for over 55 years and discontinued in June 2008 but continues to be available for research), the new online series is not a direct measure of job vacancies. The level of ads in both print and online change for reasons not related to overall job demand.

With the July 1, 2008 release, HWOL began providing seasonally adjusted data for the U.S., the 9 Census regions and 50 States. Seasonally adjusted data for occupations was provided beginning with the July 1, 2009 release. This data series, for which the earliest data is July 2005, continues to publish not seasonally adjusted data for 52 large metropolitan areas, but it is The Conference Board's intent to provide seasonally adjusted data for large metro areas in the future.

People using this data are urged to review the information on the database and methodology available on The Conference Board website and contact us with questions and comments.  Background information and technical notes on this new series are available at: http://www.conference-board.org/data/helpwantedonline.cfm.

The underlying data for this series is provided by Wanted Technologies Corporation.  Additional information on the Bureau of Labor Statistics data used in this release can be found on the BLS website, www.bls.gov

The Conference Board

The Conference Board is a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. Our mission is unique: To provide the world's leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society. The Conference Board is a non-advocacy, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States.

WANTED Technologies Corporation.

WANTED is a leading supplier of real-time sales and business intelligence solutions for the media classified and recruitment industries. Using its proprietary On-Demand data mining, lead generation and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) integrated technologies, WANTED aggregates real-time data from thousands of online job boards, real estate and newspaper sites, as well as corporate Web sites on a daily basis. WANTED's data is used to optimize sales and to implement marketing strategies within the classified ad departments of major media organizations, as well as by staffing firms, advertising agencies and human resources specialists. For more information, please visit: http://www.wantedtech.com.

SOURCE The Conference Board

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