- The Supply/Demand rate for April fell below 2 (fewer than 2 unemployed for every vacancy) for the first time in over six years
- Labor demand remains flat in 2014 and extends last year's flat trend
- Demand falls in May for Sales, Management and Computer workers but is up in Transportation, Production, Construction and Installation
Online advertised vacancies were down 18,900 to 4,904,100 in May, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine® (HWOL) Data Series, released today. The April Supply/Demand rate stands at 1.98 unemployed for each vacancy with a total of 4.8 million more unemployed workers than the number of advertised vacancies. The number of unemployed was 9.8 million in April.
"Last month's Supply/Demand rate fell below 2 for the first time in just over six years," said June Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board. "That is good news for many workers since the April Supply/Demand rate is a broad indication of current employer demand for labor. Unfortunately, it's not all good news since overall employer demand has been flat for over a year and we're seeing a drop in demand for high-paying jobs like computer workers and medical professionals." At the same time, in service/manufacturing occupations like production, building and grounds, food service, and construction, there were close to 4 or even more unemployed workers for every opening.