More Mixed News in Help Wanted

By: E&P Staff Goldman Sachs estimates that Q3 newspaper help-wanted revenue will be up a "healthy" 20%, while pointing out it's not accelerating.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported today that the unemployment rate remains about the same, at 5.4%, and that the United States added only 96,000 jobs in September, well below Wall Street's estimate of 146,000 jobs.

On the other hand, The Monster Employment Index, an indication of online help-wanted ads, rose in the month of September to 151. It was 145 in August.

The online recruitment site Monster.com reported the occupations that saw the most significant increase for the month included business and financial operations, management, computer and mathematical, office and administrative support, production, community and social services, and installation, maintenance, and repair.

The Monster Employment Index is measured by a monthly analysis of U.S. online job demand culled from more than 1,500 Web sites.

"September marks the second consecutive month that all nine U.S. regions registered increased in online job demand, a promising sign that job recovery is beginning to take root across the entire country," Jeff Taylor, founder and chief of Monster, said in a statement.

Every region recorded job growth in September, the highest level since October 2003. The mountain region, which includes Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, saw the biggest jump in online recruitment ads.

In a note issued by Goldman Sachs yesterday, analyst Peter Appert called the trend encouraging. But he also noted the index most likely overstates the employment market "because it represents a small (but growing) percentage of recruitment activity," an estimated 17%, with print advertising representing 83%. Appert believes its best to take the Monster Index and Conference Board Help-Wanted Index, which measures print recruitment activity, both under consideration when recording recruitment activity.