Online Labor Demand down 77,800 in October

(Newsroom America) -- Online advertised vacancies fell 77,800 in October to 4,735,600, according to the latest Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine (HWOL) Data Series.

The October number is in line with the number of advertised vacancies in May 2012. The Supply/Demand rate stands at 2.5 unemployed for every vacancy. In September the number of unemployed was 7.3 million above the number of advertised vacancies, down from 11.8 million at the end of the recession in June 2009.

"The average labor demand for the last five months (since May 2012) is neither up nor down but basically flat," said June Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board.

Nationally the gains and losses over the past five months netted out to a very weak average of about 4,000/month.

There have been some bright spots recently with construction occupations — up 16 percent since May — while labor demand since May has been flat in occupations as varied as Management, Health Care Practitioners, and Office workers and other occupations (Healthcare Support and Sales workers) have shown declines.

The flat national increase belies strength in some States including Idaho and Michigan, which both increased 10 percent, and Florida, with a 9 percent increase in labor demand for the five-month period.