Online job ads plummet in WNY (over 30% in one year)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2009/03/30/daily6.html

Monday, March 30, 2009, 1:42pm EDT

There was more erosion in the number of online job openings in March, according to a report Monday from The Conference Board.

For Western New York, the year-over-year descent was nearly a third as Internet job ads in Buffalo and Rochester were off by 30.6 percent and 32.6 percent, respectively.

There were 11,500 such ads in the Buffalo area for March compared to 16,600 a year ago and 12,500 a month ago. In Rochester, total ads were 8,800, down from 13,100 in March 2008 and from 9,800 in February.

New job listings posted over the Internet declined by 31 percent in Buffalo for March, dropping to 7,500 from 10,900 last year. Similarly, Rochester saw a 33.6 percent fall off to 5,700 compared to 8,600.

The Conference Board said nationwide, the number of vacancies declined by 100,000 in the past month, up from just 6,600 in February but still less than the 500,000-plus fall in December and January. Officials said that may be an indication the declines in labor demand may be slowing.

“The next two months, April and May, are when employers typically ratchet up their spring hiring, and these months will be a good indication of whether labor demand is beginning to turn around,” said Gad Levanon, Senior Economist at The Conference Board.

FULL story at link.