Help Wanted Ads Show Weak Demand
for New Employees
The “help wanted” advertising index—which tracks the volume of job
openings posted by employers in 51 major metropolitan newspapers—is a good
indicator of current employment trends. The shaded vertical areas shown in
the chart represent recessions since 1970. As expected, throughout each
recession the “help wanted” advertising index fell. The index sharply
increased immediately for all subsequent recoveries except for two. The
index continued to fluctuate on a downward trend for 11 months following
the March 1991 recessionary trough, but thereafter steadily trended upward
for 35 months. The index again fell sharply through the most current
recession but has continued to trend downward since the 2001 recessionary
trough that occurred 22 months ago. This index reflects the continued
hesitation of employers to hire new workers during this prolonged weak
recovery.
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