The Conference Board (05/30/2012)

Online advertised vacancies dipped 45,700 in May to 4,714,800, according to the Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine Data Series released on May 30. Its supply/demand rate stands at 2.6 unemployed for every vacancy. In May the number of unemployed was 7.7 million above the number of advertised vacancies—compared with 10 million above in the fall of 2011.

“After rising 564,000 over the last five months, labor demand dipped in May. Despite this drop, strong employer demand has created growing opportunities for both job-changers and the unemployed and has also helped significantly lower the unemployment rate,” says June Shelp, vice president at the Conference Board. More than half of states posted advertised vacancies in May that were above their prerecession highs. The largest gains were in the Midwest, with Michigan up 53% from its prerecession high. Other Midwestern states with increases above 40% include North Dakota (46%), Indiana (44%), and Ohio (41%).