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Help-Wanted Advertising Index Dips

The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index, a key measure of job offerings in major newspapers across America, dipped one point in February. The Index now stands at 21, down nine points from one year ago. According to the organization, help-wanted advertising declined in seven of the nine U.S. regions, in the last three months. Steepest declines, however, occurred in the East South Central (-12.5%), Pacific (-11.0%) and New England (-9.3%) regions. There were slight increases in the West South Central (3.5%) and West North Central (1.4%) regions. Says Ken Goldstein, Labor Economist at The Conference Board, "More regions of the country are experiencing economic distress and the impact is now evident in the labor markets — the result of constant, unrelenting pressure from multiple sources. There's been very little profit growth, and virtually no job growth in the past three months.” And the prospect of an improving economy may not be seen for some time to come. Goldstein further adds that, “The latest data available are reflective of conditions unlikely to turn more positive even by late summer, possibly not even until the end of the year." The Conference Board is a global business research and membership organization.