Online Labor Demand Edged Up 11,700 In October

November 5, 2014

• Online labor demand continues on a slow growth trend in 2014
• Most states and MSAs showed small gains in October

Online advertised vacancies rose 11,700 to 5,083,600 in October, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine (HWOL) Data Series, released today.  The September Supply/Demand rate stands at 1.83 unemployed for each advertised vacancy, with a total of 4.2 million more unemployed workers than the number of advertised vacancies.  The number of unemployed was 9.3 million in September.

"U.S. labor demand continues on a steady, slow growth trend, maintaining historically high demand levels with over 5 million ads each month," said Gad Levanon, Director of Macroeconomics and Labor Markets at The Conference Board.  "The data continue to indicate a strong U.S. labor market."

In October, the Services/Production occupational category saw a gain, while the Professional category saw a small loss.  Sales (22,100) and Transportation (23,800) bounced back from large September losses with most other occupational categories showing just small increases/decreases.

Regional and State Highlights

• Fifteen of the 20 largest states posted small gains in October
• Among the 50 states, 31 experienced gains and 16 declined while 3 (Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Montana) remained constant

October Changes for States

In October, online labor demand was up in 31 states, down in 16, and unchanged in 3.  All four regions experienced increases.

Metro Area Highlights

• In October, among the 20 largest metro areas, 15 gained advertisements, 4 lost, and 1 (Boston) remained constant
• Of the 52 metro areas for which Help Wanted OnLine provides monthly data, 36 gained advertisements, 12 lost, and 4 (Boston, Buffalo, Providence, and Indianapolis) remained constant

Metro Area Changes

In October, out of the largest 52 metro areas, online labor demand was up in 36 metro areas and down in 12 while 4 remained constant.  The MSAs with the largest gains in each of the regions were: New York (+11,900) in the Northeast; Seattle-Tacoma (+3,700) and San Francisco (+2,400) in the West; Dallas (+3,300) in the South; and Detroit (+1,600) in the Midwest.

Occupational Highlights

• In October, of the 10 largest online job categories, 7 posted gains and 3 posted declines

Occupational Changes for the Month of October

The largest gain in October was in Transportation ads, which increased 23,800 in October to 336,800 as demand for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers increased.  October's gain offsets the September loss of 22,900.  Sales ads increased 22,100 to 608,400 largely due to a rise in demand for retail salespeople.  This gain mostly offsets the September loss of 32,500.

Source: The Conference Board