The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index Remains Unchanged

NEW YORK, May 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index was unchanged in April. The Index remains at 19, the same level as in March, but down 10 points from one year ago.

The Conference Board is the global business research and membership organization.

In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in all nine U.S. regions. Steepest declines occurred in the New England (-26.8%), South Atlantic (-20.5%) and Pacific (-19.8%) regions.

Says Ken Goldstein, Labor Economist at The Conference Board: "The economy is still weak and job losses will likely continue through the summer at a slow pace. While it won't get much worse, it will be a while before things get better. The prolonged period of slow economic growth and no job growth is feeding a sense of frustration. This is why consumer confidence is at a 16-year low."

About The Help-Wanted Advertising Index

The Conference Board surveys help-wanted print advertising volume in 51 major newspapers across the country every month. Because ad volume has proven to be sensitive to labor market conditions, this measure provides a gauge of change in the local, regional and national supply of jobs.

Latest seasonally-adjusted results follow:

April 08 March 08 February 08 April 07

National Index 19 19 21 29
Proportion of Labor Markets
With rising Want-ad Volume 35% 35% 31% 45%
Unemployment Rate 5.0% 5.1% 4.8% 4.5%

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: The Conference Board

CONTACT: Ken Goldstein of The Conference Board, +1-212-339-0331

Web site: http://www.conference-board.org/

2008-05-29 10:11:47 0372694 PRNEWSWIRE