Online Labor Demand up 204,300 in April

- April rise offsets losses in February and March, leaving labor demand unchanged in 2013

- Metro areas show resilience with 24 of the 52 largest metro areas having fewer than 2 unemployed for every advertised vacancy

- Note: Revision to occupational levels for June 2012 forward

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The Conference Board

May 01, 2013, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Online advertised vacancies rose 204,300 in April to 5,103,100 in The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine® (HWOL) Data Series released today. The gain offsets earlier losses, leaving labor demand flat in 2013. The Supply/Demand rate stands at 2.4 unemployed for each vacancy. In March, there were 6.8 million more unemployed than the number of advertised vacancies, down from 11.9 million at the end of the recession in June 2009.

"For many workers looking for a new job, 2013 has been somewhat disappointing with the number of advertised vacancies the in April largely unchanged from January," said June Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board. "The 204,000 rise in April is a good sign, but the question is: Will the improvement hold next month and will employers begin to add workers instead of just replacing those who leave?"

In the professional occupations, the only substantial rise in demand was for legal workers, up 35 percent since January, after having languishing in the early recovery years. The 2013 results in the service/manufacturing occupations are mixed with manufacturing stalling and sales workers and food service openings slumping. The bright note in this category is the building trades (construction and installation, maintenance and repair), which continue to post gains

For more information, including press release and technical notes:
http://www.conference-board.org/data/helpwantedonline.cfm.

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