NEW YORK, Jan. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Online advertised vacancies rose 217,900 in December to 4,937,800, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine® (HWOL) Data Series released today. The Supply/Demand rate stands at 2.6 unemployed for every vacancy. In November, there were 7.3 million more unemployed than the number of advertised vacancies, down from 11.8 million at the end of the recession in June 2009.

"Labor demand rose across the nation in December, with the largest gain in the Northeast," said June Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board. "The Northeast gain of 75,000 was good news after the drop in ads last month from the effects of Hurricane Sandy that impacted states from Virginia to Massachusetts. All in all, 2012 and 2011 ended with the same average monthly gain of about 50,000, with the first six months of the year significantly stronger than the last half." Not all occupations slowed in their demand for labor as 2012 progressed. Among those that continued to build steam were Construction and Sales, while the demand for Production and Food Preparation workers softened.

For more information, including press release and technical notes:
http://www.conference-board.org/data/helpwantedonline.cfm

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