Online Labor Demand Up 209,700 in September

- This month's rise is the largest monthly increase in 2013

- September gains are widespread and include large states such as California, Texas and Massachusetts, as well as smaller states such as Nebraska and West Virginia

News provided by

The Conference Board

Oct 02, 2013, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Online advertised vacancies were up 209,700 in September to 5,184,600, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine® (HWOL) Data Series released today. The September rise is the first rise of over 200,000 since December 2012. The September Supply/Demand rate stands at 2.3 unemployed for each vacancy with a total of 6.3 million more unemployed workers than the number of advertised vacancies.

"The 210,000 gain for September is the first optimistic sign this year that employers are seeking additional workers," said June Shelp, Vice President of The Conference Board. This brings the gain for Q3 to 68,000/month and follows a Q2 gain of 27,000/month and a Q1 loss of 26,000/month.

The national gains resulted from a mixture of gains that outnumbered the losses. The largest September gain was for food service workers, up 45,000, or 20 percent – a welcome increase since there are still four unemployed in this occupation for every available opening. The number of ads for management positions also rose by 24,700, in part due to greater demand for food service managers. Demand for transportation workers also rose by 20,800 as employers advertised for truck drivers. Occupations with declines in September included legal workers (-6,200) as demand for lawyers and legal support decreased. Office occupations also declined (-5,400) with less employer demand for secretaries and information clerks.

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

Follow The Conference Board
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

SOURCE The Conference Board