The Conference Board News Release (04/30/12)

Online advertised vacancies increased by 90,900 in April to 4,760,500, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine Data Series released on April 30. The April rise is the fifth consecutive monthly rise and has led to the series’ highest level to date. The Supply/Demand rate stands at 2.7 unemployed for every vacancy, and the number of unemployed was eight million above the number of advertised vacancies.

In another positive development, labor demand in two of the traditional white-collar office professions—legal, and office and administrative support—has picked up this year. Legal professions, in which demand dropped sharply in 2011, grew by 5,600 (26%) since January, while demand for office and administrative workers increased by 71,100 (17%).