Online Job Listings Take a Tumble
Feb. 2, 2009
Richard Kaplan--HispanicBusiness.com
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Jobs vacancies advertised on Internet job boards such as Monster.com, CareerBuilder, and Craigslist registered a drastic decline in January, according to data released by the Conference Board today
Since December, the number of listed vacancies fell 506,000 positions to 3,355,000, a drop of 23 percent.
The sharp collapse in job listings offers additional evidence of the deteriorating job market, which will likely be confirmed in the unemployment statistics scheduled to be released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, Jan. 6. Experts predict another sharp fall in employment, following a series of particularly brutal months.
The reduction in job board vacancies suggests further trouble for those unemployed and pounding the street or browsing the Internet in search of work. Not only are companies increasing their layoffs and foregoing any hiring, but employed personnel themselves are more likely to stay put in their positions, holding on to whatever job security they can find.
Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board stated in a press release, "The very sharp declines in advertised vacancies throughout the nation in the last two months are clearly making it increasingly hard for those who are unemployed to find new positions. In December, the number of unemployed looking for work already exceeded the number of advertised vacancies by 7.3 million."
"The outlook for the coming months is for continued large job losses," but he added, "If there is any bright spot, "it is that there are still well over 3 million advertised vacancies."
The Conference Board's data revealed that the job market is suffering across the entire country. Advertised vacancies drop in all 50 States in January, with only two states, North Dakota and Wyoming, having less unemployed person than advertised vacancies.
Large populous states were particularly hard hit by unemployment trends. In the South, North Carolina saw a stunning one-month decline of 15,000 fewer vacancies listed. Texas experienced the largest decline, at 36,300 less postings, while Florida and Georgia continued their downward trends with January decreases of 25,200 and 13,200 respectively.
In the Northeast region, New York again posted the largest decline in labor demand (-30,700). Massachusetts, dropped 11,800 vacancies, while Pennsylvania's advertised vacancies fell 22,200.
Out West, California and Arizona have shown downward trends since summer 2007 and again registered decreases in January. California was down 34,600 and Arizona 6,000.
The Conference Board's Help-Wanted Online Survey counts the number of new, first-time online jobs and jobs reposted from the previous month on more than 1,200 major Internet job boards and smaller job boards that serve niche markets and smaller geographic areas.
Source: HispanicBusiness.com (c) 2009. All rights reserved.
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