Online Labor Demand Grows in December

January 5, 2012 – Online advertised vacancies rose 93,800 in December to 3,951,000, according to The Conference Board’s Help Wanted OnLine Data Series (HWOL). The December increase offset the dips of 76,000 in November and 14,000 in October. The supply/demand rate stands at 3.45, indicating there were 3.5 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy in November, the latest monthly data available for unemployment. “The December increase was a welcome lift for labor demand after a lackluster year,” said June Shelp, vice president at The Conference Board. Labor demand struggled in 2011. After a promising start in the early months of the year, labor demand had been basically flat since August. Some of the occupations that saw an uptick in December are among those in which the Supply/Demand rate (number of unemployed relative to advertised vacancies) was well above the National average for all occupations. Production jobs, where there are 7.7 unemployed for every advertised vacancy, rose 11,000 in December and Building and grounds workers, with a S/D rate of 12.6, rose 5,300.