Online Labor Demand Rises in February

March 6, 2012 – Online advertised vacancies rose 39,900 in February to 4,423,300, according to The Conference Board’s Help Wanted OnLine Data Series (HWOL). The February rise follows gains in December 2011 and January 2012. “In a positive sign the Supply/Demand rate dipped below the 3.0 level for the first time since November 2008,” said June Shelp, vice president at The Conference Board. “This reflects both significant gains in labor demand as well as drops in unemployment levels since the end of the recession. With the monthly level of job demand around 4.4 million, labor demand is back in line with the pre-recession series high in 2007.” Occupations in which more jobs are available than unemployed workers seeking positions include: computer and math; architecture and engineering; life, physical and social science; and healthcare practitioners and technical. Among the occupations that are still relatively scarce, construction at 17 unemployed for every ad has shown significant improvement from its high of 51 unemployed for every advertised vacancy in October 2009.