Help-Wanted Advertising Index Dips In June

The Conference Board's Help-Wanted Advertising index fell to 84 in June, down five points from May. It was 89 one year ago. In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in every region except New England, where it increased 11.6%. Steepest declines were in the West South Central (-8.9%), East South Central (-8.1%) and Mountain (-8.0%) regions. "Labor demand dipped this summer," says Conference Board Economist Ken Goldstein. "The last time that the volume of job advertising was this low was in May 1997. But unless the labor market weakens dramatically in the second half of the year, which is very unlikely, this latest labor market pause could prove to be temporary." The Conference Board surveys help-wanted advertising volume in 51 major newspapers across the country every month.