Online advertised vacancies were down 76,200 in November to 3,857,200, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine (HWOL) Data Series released today.  The November drop follows a dip of 14,000 in October and 44,000 in September.  The Supply/Demand rate stands at 3.53, indicating there were 3.5 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy in October, the latest monthly data available for unemployment.

“The November decline in labor demand, following on the heels of the drops for the previous five months, is not good news for the labor market,” said June Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board.  The average monthly gain for 2011 is now just 15,800, as the decline of 589,000 in recent months has largely offset the gain of 763,000 in early 2011.  The lackluster labor market is impacting a wide range of occupations including the occupations we think of as professional jobs in companies (Management, Business and Finance, and Computers and Math). All have lost ground over the last six months, and the November online labor demand for each was modestly below the number of advertised vacancies in January of this year.  (See occupational detail section.)

REGIONAL AND STATE HIGHLIGHTS

In November:

• All 4 regions experience losses
• Pennsylvania, among the 20 largest States, is flat while other States show an overall downward trend

In November, the Midwest declined 32,600, reflecting losses in 5 out of 6 of its largest States. Illinois was the only one of the larger states posting a minimal gain (+400) in November.  This was the first monthly gain for Illinois since May 2011.  Ohio experienced the largest November decline, 10,300.  Since June, Ohio has lost over 22,300.  Missouri fell 6,500, more than 3 times its October decline.  Minnesota followed with a decline of 6,000.  Michigan experienced a decline of 4,900.  Wisconsin fell 2,100, its sixth consecutive monthly decline.  Among the less populous States in the region, Indiana and Iowa fell 1,300 and 200 respectively, while North Dakota and South Dakota both dipped 500.

The Northeast was down by 21,800 in November, reflecting losses in all 4 of its large States.  New York experienced the largest loss, 7,100.  Since March 2011, New York has experienced a loss of 53,000 advertised vacancies.  Next was New Jersey with a loss of 5,600 while Pennsylvania dropped 3,300.  Labor demand in Massachusetts fell 3,100.  Over the last six months, advertised vacancies in Massachusetts have declined nearly 23,000.  Among the smaller States in the region, Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode Island lost 3,100, 900, and 700 respectively while New Hampshire gained 200.

The South dipped 20,800, led by a decline of 4,300 in North Carolina.  Since May 2011, North Carolina has declined by over 14,500 advertised job vacancies.  Other large states in the South, however, posted gains.  Virginia experienced the largest gain, 6,800, its first gain since May.  Maryland rose 1,800.  Texas and Florida gained 1,100 and 1,000 respectively while Georgia rose 900 to 103,700.  The gains in the larger States were offset by the losses in the smaller States in the South.  Louisiana fell by 2,900 to a total of 41,700.  Tennessee was down 2,700 while both South Carolina and Oklahoma fell by 2,100, Alabama dropped 1,600, and Arkansas lost 1,300.

Labor demand in the West was down slightly by 7,200 in November and was led by Washington State, which lost 5,600.  California, the region’s largest State, remained steady at 425,500 advertised vacancies.  Colorado gained 1,400.  Arizona gained 1,200.  Among the small States in the West, Nevada declined by 1,600, Oregon lost 1,100, Utah fell 1,000, Idaho lost 700, and New Mexico dropped 500.

The Supply/Demand rate for the U.S. in October (the latest month for which unemployment numbers are available) stood at 3.53, indicating that there are close to 4 unemployed workers for every online advertised vacancy.  Nationally, there are 10 million more unemployed workers than advertised vacancies.  The number of advertised vacancies exceeded the number of unemployed only in North Dakota, where the Supply/Demand rate was 0.88.  States with the next lowest rates included Nebraska (1.40), South Dakota (1.41), Vermont (1.59), Alaska (1.76), Minnesota (1.94), and New Hampshire (1.99) (Table 4).  The State with the highest Supply/Demand rate is Mississippi (7.87), where there are close to 8 unemployed workers for every online advertised vacancy.  The States with the next highest Supply/Demand rates are Kentucky (5.16), California (4.99), Alabama (4.92), and Illinois (4.85).

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

In November:

• Demand for Healthcare Practitioners and Technical workers shows an increase
• Ads for Office and Administrative Support and Sales and Related workers decline sharply 

Changes for the Month of November

In November, fifteen of the twenty-two Standard Occupational Classifications (SOC codes) that are reported separately declined while six posted some gains and one, Legal, was unchanged.  For most of the occupational categories the November change, whether up or down, was modest.

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical occupations posted the largest increase, 23,300, to 529,900 (Table B).  Largely responsible for the rise were increased advertised vacancies for Physical and Occupational Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists, and Physician Assistants.  The number of advertised vacancies in this occupational category continues to outnumber job-seekers by 2.6 to one (0.38 S/D based on October data, the latest unemployment data available).

Among the top 10 occupation groups with the largest numbers of online advertised vacancies, demand for Office and Administrative Support occupations dropped 36,600 to 432,200, which offset the October rise of 30,100.  Largely responsible for the drop was lower demand for Customer Service Representatives.  The number of unemployed in these occupations remains above the number of advertised vacancies with almost 4 (3.55) unemployed for every advertised vacancy.

Labor demand for Sales and Related workers dropped 33,900 to 476,800 and was led by a decrease in demand for Sales Representatives and Insurance Sales Agents.  The number of unemployed in this occupational category continues to outnumber the number of advertised vacancies by about 3 to 1 (S/D of 2.76).

Business and Financial Operations positions decreased by 13,700 to 218,900 advertised vacancies in November.  Management analysts and tax preparers were among the advertised vacancies that showed declines.  In this field there are almost 2 (1.76) unemployed workers for every advertised vacancy.

Longer View of Labor Demand for Selected Occupations

“Looking at the 22 broad occupational categories over the eleven months of 2011, relatively few occupations have held their ground and posted gains,” said Shelp.  Construction and Extraction has had a lackluster but relatively steady increase throughout 2011; it has risen on average just over 1,800 per month to 75,900 advertised vacancies in November.  Demand for Production workers has been even more modest with the November figure of 118,000 just 1,000 above the 117,000 being demanded in January.

The occupations we think of as professional jobs in companies (Management, Business and Finance, and Computers and Math) have all lost ground over the last six months, and the November online labor demand for each was modestly below the number of advertised vacancies in January of this year.  The drop in advertised vacancies has been much sharper for Legal jobs, and at 21,000 in November the number of advertised vacancies was almost 25 percent below the January level.  Labor demand for Community and Social Service occupations, which includes jobs like mental health and substance abuse and child and family social workers, has also contracted sharply this year and in November at 47,400 was also 25 percent below the monthly demand in January.

“The level of labor demand alone, however, does not tell the whole story,” said Shelp.  “The difficulty of finding a job is a factor of not only the number of openings but also the number of people competing for the advertised position.”  The broad occupational groups that can be termed “favorable” typically are occupations where the supply/demand rate is below one and there are more advertised vacancies than unemployed people seeking positions.  Even though there are fewer advertised vacancies for Computer and Math occupations in November than there were at the beginning of the year, there were only 174,000 unemployed people seeking 515,000 open positions.  Other occupational groups in which the supply of unemployed workers is less than the demand for help included Healthcare Practitioners and Technical workers (315,000 more openings than unemployed, based on October data) and Life, Physical and Social Sciences, where there were 13,000 more openings than unemployed workers seeking positions in this field.

Occupations where finding a position is more challenging and where there are more unemployed than advertised vacancies include Construction (18.4 unemployed for every advertised opening); Food Preparation and Serving (8.7); and Production Work and Personal Care, both with about 8 unemployed for every available opening.   (See Table 7 for S/D rate and average hourly earnings by broad occupational group.)

METRO AREA HIGHLIGHTS

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

In November, 35 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, the New York metro area was down 10,400, or 4.1 percent, from its November 2010 level and the Washington, DC metro area was down 1,600, or 1.1 percent, from last year.  The Los Angeles metro area was down a mere 400, or 0.3 percent, from last year’s level (Table C & Table 5).

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 (1.31) with about one advertised vacancy for every unemployed worker.  Oklahoma City, Minneapolis- St. Paul, Boston, and Salt Lake City were metropolitan locations with the next lowest Supply/Demand rates (Table C).  On the other hand, metro areas in which the respective number of unemployed is substantially above the number of online advertised vacancies include Riverside, CA — where there are nearly nine unemployed workers for every advertised vacancy (8.87) — Miami (5.44), Sacramento (5.02), Los Angeles (4.70), Las Vegas (4.40), and Memphis (4.23).  Supply/Demand rate data are for September 2011, the latest month for which unemployment data for local areas are available.