Conference Board's Help-Wanted Index Remains Unchanged

By: E&P Staff The Conference Board announced today that its Help-Wanted Advertising Index remains unchanged for April. The index stands at 39. It was at 38 the same period last year.

Help-wanted advertising declined in seven of the nine U.S. regions measured in the last three months. The South Atlantic region was down 12.4%, the East North Central region was down 10.8%, and the West North Central region was down 9.9%.

"The labor market indicators were soft in April," said Ken Goldstein, an economist with the Conference Board, in a statement. "Want-ad volume was flat while the data on initial unemployment claims was essentially unchanged. These are indicators that hiring intentions again turned cautious in April."

The Conference Board surveys help-wanted advertising volume in 51 major U.S. newspapers every month.