Help-Wanted Index

Help-wanted advertising is a leading indicator of trends in the job market. The Conference Board constructs the index based on the volume of advertising found in their monthly survey of help-wanted advertising in the same 51 major newspapers across the nation. An index is created for the nation, the nine census divisions and for the 51 metro areas in which the newspapers are published. The year 1987 is the base year, with a value of 100. The index is then seasonally adjusted. The data supplied is timely and consistent, and a good indicator of future employment trends with a lag of three months. However, it is only valid for the 51 major metro areas. It never moves markets. One problem with this index is that changes in trend may occur because of changes in the way employers advertise and seek out potential employees, rather than because of changes in the job market. The internet's growing role as a medium for help-wanted advertising may have made the index less reliable. Another problem is that when comparing the index across regions, one is comparing the volume of help-wanted advertising relative to conditions in 1987 because 1987 was arbitrarily used as the base year for each region. The Help-Wanted Index report is scheduled for release at 9:00 (CST) on the last Thursday of every month by the Conference Board.

POTENTIAL IMPACT ON INTEREST RATES: LOW