Help-Wanted Index Is Unchanged

ByJohn S. McClenahen The Conference Board's Help-Wanted Advertising Index for August, the most recent month for which data are available, was unchanged from July. The index remains at 37, the same level it was the year before. "With economic questions being raised about consumption and exports, plus cost considerations -- beyond the elevated price of oil -- business executives have turned cautious about hiring, as reflected by the flat trend in want-ad volume," says Ken Goldstein, economist for the New York-based Conference Board, a business research group. Its index is based on a survey of help-wanted advertising volume in 51 major newspapers across the United States.