Online Labor Demand Rises in May
June 3, 2011 – Online advertised vacancies were up 148,800 in May to 4,471,200 according The Conference Board’s Help Wanted OnLine Data Series. The May increase follows a decline of 124,000 in April and a gain of 198,000 in March. “Overall, the trend in online advertised vacancies has been positive this year,” said June Shelp, vice president at The Conference Board. “Following the large increase of 526,000 in January, over the next four months the increase in advertised vacancies has averaged 66,000 per month. While we have now returned to the pre-recession levels of labor demand, the big difference today is the larger number of unemployed workers that are seeking jobs compared to four years ago.” Among the top 10 occupation groups with the largest numbers of online advertised vacancies, categories posting increases included office and administrative support, up 16,900. occupations that posted fewer vacancies in May included healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, down 3,400 to 565,100.