Online advertised vacancies were down 99,700 in June to 4,371,500 according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine™ (HWOL) Data Series released Wednesday. The June drop partially offsets the rise of 148,800 in May. The Supply/Demand rate stands at 3.11, indicating there were just over 3 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy in May, the latest monthly data available for unemployment.
“The national trend in labor demand, while still positive, has definitely slowed in the last few months as gains in one month are partially offset by a pullback in advertised vacancies in the next,” said June Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board.
Added Shelp, “The pattern over the last few months is beginning to look like the very slow growth in labor demand in 2010. After the large increase of 526,000 in January, average monthly job growth over the next five months has been choppy and has averaged about 33,000/month. The current number of advertised vacancies is close to the monthly 4.5 million posted just prior to the recession. However, in May there were just over 3 unemployed workers seeking jobs for each vacancy — double the number of 1.5 unemployed for every advertised vacancy just prior to the recession.”
Florida online advertised vacancies was down 14,700 to 232,200.
On the whole, the South was down 62,800, reflecting lower labor demand in all of the larger States in the region for June.
In June, online advertised vacancies declined in the five broad occupational categories that average over 450,000 advertised vacancies per month. June declines in these groups ranged from a low of just over one percent in Computer and mathematical science occupations (down 7,200 to 601,000 advertised vacancies) to just over four percent in Office and administrative support (down 20,600 to 456,100) and Sales and Related occupations (down 23,500 to 578,300 ads). Customer service representatives, tellers, first-line supervisors / managers of retail sales workers, and sales representatives in services are among the positions in Office and administrative support and Sales and related areas that experienced declines. Management occupations were down 14,800, reflecting, in part, fewer advertised vacancies for managers in marketing, health services and sales. Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations declined 16,500 in June. Healthcare practitioners’ occupations that saw declines included physical therapists, general internists, and family and general practitioners.
