Help Wanted Index Falls to 21
The November Help Wanted Index fell to 21, 2 points lower than the previous reading and 2 points lower than analysts expected. The Index fell 8 points y-o-y from its November 2006 reading of 29. All nine U.S. regions posted declines in help-wanted advertising, with the Pacific, Mountain, and West North Central showing declines of over 12%. Online help-wanted advertising fell 2.1%. Ken Goldstein, the Conference Board’s labor economist, is concerned about continued weakness in the labor market, remarking “the forward indicators of labor market activity are consistent with slowing growth.”