Online Labor Demand Drops in April

May 3, 2011 – Online advertised vacancies slipped by 123,800 in April to 4,322,300, according The Conference Board’s Help Wanted OnLine Data Series. The April decline follows a strong gain of 763,100 in the first quarter of 2011. “Labor demand has risen to levels we last saw just before the official start of the recession four years ago,” said June Shelp, vice president at The Conference Board. “At the same time, the number of unemployed has doubled and now stands at 13.5 million (March unemployment data), and some professions have clearly fared better than others in job opportunities.” Computer and mathematical science is the only broad occupational group where the number of advertised vacancies remained above the number of unemployed throughout the recession. Occupations where there continue to be a large number of unemployed for every online advertised opening include construction and extraction (22 unemployed for every opening), production jobs (7.9), building and grounds work (11.1), food preparation and service related jobs (7.8), and personal care and service occupations (7.4).