Online Job Demand Up in July

August 3, 2010 – Online advertised vacancies rose 139,200 in July to 4,293,300 following a very small increase in June, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine Data Series (HWOL). The gap between the number of unemployed and advertised vacancies (supply/demand rate) stood at 3.52 unemployed for every advertised vacancy in June (the last available unemployment data) but is down from its peak of 4.73 in October 2009. “After rising sharply in December and January, online job demand for the nation as a whole has settled into a more modest pattern over the last six months, with increases that have averaged about 43,000 per month,” said June Shelp, vice president at The Conference Board. “The gains in job demand vary across the country with some East Coast states –New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland–posting steady and strong upward trends throughout this year. Steady but more modest improvement better characterizes online job demand in other states like Washington, Ohio, Oregon and Texas.” Among the top 10 occupation groups with the largest numbers of online advertised vacancies, Management occupations posted the largest July increase.