Little change is forecast for the job market this summer, as approximately 360,000 new jobs will likely open up, roughly the same pace as in the spring, The Conference Board reported today.
The organization’s Help-Wanted Advertising Index, which measures job offerings in major U.S. newspapers, held steady at 29 in April, and, according to the JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover) data, there is nothing that would suggest any dramatic changes.
“There’s been speculation that the economy won’t be much stronger this summer than it was in the first quarter,” Ken Goldstein, labor economist at The Conference Board, said in a statement. “The leading economic indicators have been relatively soft in recent months.”
Although help-wanted advertising declined in seven of the nine U.S. regions over the last three months — East South Central (-36.7 percent), New England (-19.3 percent), East North Central (-8.4 percent) and South Atlantic (-8.4 percent) — Goldstein said “there is a chance that the labor market might continue to open up new jobs at a pace of about 120,000 to 130,000 new jobs a month this summer.”
Online job ads fared better in May, rising to 4.37 million, which is 9,000, or 0.2 percent, more ads than in April, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series. There were 2.9 advertised vacancies online for every 100 persons in the labor force in May.
The Conference Board surveys help-wanted print advertising volume in 51 major newspapers across the country every month. Because ad volume has proven to be sensitive to labor market conditions, this measure provides a gauge of change in the local, regional and national supply of jobs.
