Online Labor Demand Increased Slightly in January

A significant labor market slowdown is unlikely

- Decline in oil prices since October is leading to a decline in online ads in the oil industry

- Northeast region saw the largest job ads growth in January

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Feb 06, 2019, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Experimental Help Wanted OnLine (HWOL) Index increased in January. The Index now stands at 102.0 (July 2018=100), up from 101.6 in December.

"Unlike in 2016 where there was a clear drop in online job ads during the economic slowdown, the HWOL Index rose in January despite the current financial market turmoil. This indicates a reduced likelihood of a major slowdown in the US economy," said Gad Levanon, Chief Economist, North America, at The Conference Board. "We expect employment growth in the first half of 2019 to modestly slow down, and labor turnover rates to increase as the labor market tightens. Recruiters will continue to be busy replacing workers and filling new positions."

The release schedule, national historic table and technical note are available on The Conference Board website, http://www.conference-board.org/data/helpwantedonline.cfm. The underlying data for The Conference Board HWOL is collected by CEB, Inc.

About The Conference Board
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SOURCE The Conference Board