Online advertised vacancies were down 217,000 in July to 4,154,500, according toThe Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine(HWOL)Data Seriesreleased today. The July drop follows a decline of 100,000 in June after a basically flat period in April and May. The Supply/Demand rate stands at 3.22, indicating there were just over 3 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy in June, the latest monthly data available for unemployment.

"The national trend in labor demand, while positive in the first quarter of 2011, turned negative in the second quarter. And with the July loss, monthly labor demand is now 54,000 below the January level," saidJune Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board. Among the largest states, the pattern in job demand now varies from positive inNorth Carolina,Minnesota,Ohio, andWashingtonto steady inTexas,Illinois, andMichiganand down inCaliforniaandNew York. Occupations also present a mixed picture with the demand for workers in food services (typically lower-wage occupations) up since January. However, there are still 7 unemployed workers for every advertised vacancy in this profession. In contrast, the demand for healthcare professionals (generally a high-wage occupation) is down since January, but there are 2 advertised vacancies available for every job-seeker.

REGIONAL AND STATE HIGHLIGHTS

In July:

• Like the U.S., many States now have flat or downward trends
• Northeast fairs best while other regions see large drops

In July, theNortheastposted the smallest decline, down 4,100. Among the large States in the region,Pennsylvania's gain of 6,700 to 173,000 andNew Jersey's gain of 900 were offset by declines in other states includingNew York, down 5,800, andMassachusetts, down 5,200. Connecticut dropped by 3,200 andNew Hampshirefell 300 while other New England States posted small gains: Rhode Island (+400) andVermont(+800).

TheSouthwas down 49,800 in July, reflecting drops in several of the large states. Georgia declined 16,500 to 109,600, andTexaswas down 10,300 to 281,100.Marylanddeclined by 9,600, andVirginiafell by 2,500.Floridahad a slight drop of 600 whileNorth Carolinaremained unchanged at 110,100. Among the smaller states in the South,AlabamaandArkansasfell by 2,700 and 900 respectively. States posting increases in advertised vacancies in July includedTennessee(+500) andOklahoma(+800).

In July, theWestdeclined by 43,300. The largest monthly drop in advertised vacancies was inCalifornia, down 21,700 to a total of 459,900. Arizona andColoradoboth posted declines of 5,300 whileWashington Statefell by 2,000. Other States in the West posting declines includedNevada, down 4,600,Idaho, down 2,700, andUtah, down 900. With 22,600 advertised vacancies,New Mexicowas one of the States with an increase in July (+600).

TheMidwestdropped by 33,700 with declines in a number of its larger States includingIllinois, which declined 11,600,Minnesota, down 7,800, andWisconsinwith a slight decline of 1,000. Other large States in the region with July declines includedOhio, down 6,400, andMichigan, which dipped by 3,500 to 119,000. However, sinceJanuary 2011, labor demand inOhioandMichiganis up 16,300 and 12,800 respectively. Among the less populous States in the region,Iowafell 1,300 andIndianarose by 1,800 to a total of 68,200. North Dakota andSouth Dakotafell 800 and 900 respectively.

The Supply/Demand rate for the U.S. in June (the latest month for which unemployment numbers are available) stood at 3.22, indicating that there are just over three unemployed workers for every online advertised vacancy. Nationally, there are 9.7 million more unemployed workers than advertised vacancies. The number of advertised vacancies exceeded the number of unemployed only inNorth Dakota, where the Supply/Demand rate was 0.89. States with the next lowest rates includedNebraska(1.42),New Hampshire(1.55),South Dakota(1.56), andAlaska(1.59). The State with the highest Supply/Demand rate isMississippi(7.92), where there are nearly 8 unemployed workers for every online advertised vacancy. There are a number of States in which there are over four unemployed for every advertised vacancy. These includeKentucky(5.16),South Carolina(4.67),Alabama(4.66),West Virginia(4.53), andCalifornia(4.43).

It should be noted that the Supply/Demand rate only provides a measure of relative tightness of the individual State labor markets and does not suggest that the occupations of the unemployed directly align with the occupations of the advertised vacancies (see Occupational Highlights section).

OCCUPATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

• Demand for workers in Construction and extraction up by about one third sinceJanuary 2011, but there are 17 unemployed seeking work for every ad
• Demand for Food-service workers was also up by 33,000 since January, but there are still 7 unemployed for every vacancy

Changes for the Month of July

Among the top 10 occupation groups with the largest numbers of online advertised vacancies,Food Preparation and Serving Relatedoccupations posted the only July increase in the number of advertised vacancies, up 13,700 to 149,600. SinceJanuary 2011this occupation group has posted a healthy gain of 32,900. However, unemployed workers in these occupations still outnumber advertised vacancies by 7.28 to one (based on June data, the latest unemployment data available).Healthcare Practitioners and Technicaloccupations posted the largest decrease, 61,200, to 487,500 and were down 125,100 sinceJanuary 2011. Occupations that experienced losses include Registered Nurses, Physical Therapists, and Occupational Therapists. The number of advertised vacancies in this occupational category continues to outnumber job-seekers by over two to one.

Demand forManagementoccupationsfell by 41,100 to 411,900. Occupations that underwent declines include Branch or Department Financial Managers, Marketing Managers, Sales Managers, and Medical and Health Services Managers. The number of unemployed in Management occupations remains above the number of advertised vacancies with just under 2 (1.6) unemployed for every advertised vacancy.

In July, labor demand forComputer and Mathematical Scienceworkers declined by 28,100 to 572,900, led by a decrease in demand for Computer Software Engineers (Applications), Computer Systems Analysts, and Computer Support Specialists. Job opportunities still remain favorable in this occupational category with 5 ads for every job-seeker (S/D of 0.22).

Supply/Demand for Selected Occupations

"Since January this year, the number of advertised vacancies has risen for workers inFood preparation and servicejobs (+32,900) andSalespositions (+29,600), but there are still more unemployed seeking work in these professions than advertised vacancies," said Shelp. The job market is still tough for workers seeking work in food preparation and service positions with 7 job-seekers for every advertised opening (June data, the latest unemployment data available). The situation is more favorable for those seeking sales jobs, where there are not quite 3 unemployed for every opening. Since January, labor demand is also up forConstructionjobs (+17,600), but the number of unemployed outnumbers the vacancies by 20 to one.

Among high-paying occupations,Computer and mathematical scienceoccupations were up a modest 6 percent (31,200) since January, whileManagementpositions were down slightly (-13,800). Community and social servicepositions were down 13,300, a drop of just over 20 percent since January. Based on June data, there are about 2 unemployed for every advertised vacancy in Community and social service (2.1) and Management (1.6) while there are 5 openings for every unemployed job seeker in Computer and mathematical science (0.22).

METRO AREA HIGHLIGHTS

• Washington, D.C.,Oklahoma City,Minneapolis-St. Paul, andBostonhave the lowest Supply/Demand rates

In July, all of the 52 metropolitan areas for which data are reported separately posted over-the-year increases in the number of online advertised vacancies. Among the three metro areas with the largest numbers of advertised vacancies, theNew Yorkmetro area was 5.4 percent above itsJuly 2010level, theLos Angelesmetro area was 14.6 percent above last year's level, and theWashington, D.C.metro area was 1.5 percent above itsJuly 2010level.

The number of unemployed exceeded the number of advertised vacancies in all of the 52 metro areas for which information is reported separately. Washington, DC continues to have the most favorable Supply/Demand rate (1.11) with about one advertised vacancy for every unemployed worker. Oklahoma City,Minneapolis-St. Paul,Boston,Honolulu,Baltimore, andSalt Lake Citywere metropolitan locations where there were just fewer than two unemployed looking for work for every advertised vacancy. On the other hand, metro areas in which the respective number of unemployed is substantially above the number of online advertised vacancies includeRiverside, CA— where there are over eight unemployed people for every advertised vacancy (8.27) —Sacramento(4.98),Miami(4.80), andLos Angeles(4.20). Supply/Demand rate data are forMay 2011, the latest month for which unemployment data for local areas are available.