Mar. Help Wanted Index Preview
The March Help Wanted Index will be released tomorrow at 10:00am. Analysts estimate the index will fall to 20 from a Feb. reading of 21.
Feb.’s reading of 21 matched November’s level as the all-time low for the index. Except for small upticks in Sept. and Dec. of 2007, the Index has been trending lower since Dec. 2006. Last time around the Board’s head labor economist said, “More regions are experiencing economic distress and the impact is now evident in labor markets,” and added that in the last 3 months there has been “very little profit growth, and virtually no job growth.”
The relevancy of the Help Wanted Index as an indicator has been questioned since the Conference Board announced it will no longer be publishing the Index after July 1, 2008 earlier this month . In explaining the cancellation, the research group admitted “print advertising no longer comprehensively captures changes in labor-market demand.”