Online job postings slumped in December according to a Reuters news story. The article cites data from The Conference Board.
The Conference Board said its measure of online help-wanted advertising volume fell to 1.63 million last month from 1.82 million in November.
Online job ads declined in all 52 metropolitan areas for which data was available, including New Orleans, which dipped for the first time since Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S. Gulf Coast region in late August, the report said.
"A large portion of the declines in ads in November and December are seasonal declines as businesses cut back recruitment ads during the holiday season," said Ken Goldstein, labor economist at The Conference Board.
Hearing that there are less job opportunities to look at isn't a great way to start out the year. The Conference Board study also had some information about local trends. San Diego lead the nation in December with 2.46 job ads per 100 persons. They were followed closely by San Francisco (2.39), Denver (2.37), and San Jose (2.35). The lowest number of online job ads per 100 persons in the labor force in December was in Detroit (0.55), followed by Rochester, NY (0.66).
