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HELP WANTED ADVERTISING
RISES TWO POINTS,
THE CONFERENCE BOARD SAYS
The Conference Board's Help-Wanted Advertising Index rose to 87 in September, up two points from August. The figure was 84 one year ago.
In the last three months, help-wanted advertising rose in five regions across the nation and fell in four. The largest increase was in the West South Central region (4.8%). It was followed by the East South Central and New England regions (both 4.7%) the Pacific (2.6%) and the South Atlantic (2.3%). Declines were in the Middle Atlantic (—12.0%), Rocky Mountain (—7.8%), West North Central (—7.4%), and East North Central (—1.4%) regions.
“After almost four full years of strong expansion, enough to bing unemployment down to a rate not seen in decades, there is no let up in the demand for labor,” says Conference Board Economist Ken Goldstein. “Wage gains have remained moderate despite tight labor market conditions. This is one reason why businesses continue to plan for more hiring through the end of this year and into the early months of 1998. Continued strong consumption requires business to take steps to hire more people to produce more goods and services. Not only is there no credible evidence that the virtuous cycle is beginning to break up, but this high degree of confidence in the performance of the economy may be one reason for the stock market comeback.”
The Conference Board surveys help-wanted advertising volume in 51 major newspapers across the country every month. Because want ad volume has proven to be sensitive to labor market conditions, this measure provides a gauge of change in the local, regional, or national supply of jobs.
Latest Seasonally-Adjusted Results
Sep 97 Aug 97 Jul 97 Sep 96 National Index 87 85-R 87 84 Proportion of Labor Markets with Rising Want-Ad Volume 65% 45% 43% 85% Unemployment Rate 4.9% 4.9% 4.8% 5.2%
October 30, 1997 The Conference Board
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