Online Job Demand Rises in October

November 2, 2010 – Online advertised vacancies rose 113,700 in October to 4,409,800, following an increase of 59,900 in September, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine Data Series. The nation's supply/demand rate stood at 3.44 unemployed for every advertised vacancy in September (the last available unemployment data), a figure that is down from a peak of 4.73 in October 2009. Nationally, there are 10.5 million more unemployed than advertised vacancies. “In this slow economic recovery, the October rise is welcome news that the trend in labor demand continues to move in a positive direction, albeit at a very moderate pace,” said June Shelp, vice president at The Conference Board. “The October increase reflected a moderate rise in a range of occupations and geographically across the nation. The slow but steady upward trend of the last seven months points to modest growth in employment through the end of 2010.” Among the top 10 occupation groups with the largest numbers of online advertised vacancies, healthcare practitioners and technical occupations posted the largest October increase, up 26,800 to 543,100. Management occupations posted an October increase of 20,200 to 597,500 and, following a drop of 11,500 in September, reached their highest level since January 2008.