Help-Wanted Index

An index of the number of job advertisements in major American newspapers. This is used as an indicator of job openings and the general strength of the labor market. When the HWI is low, this means that few firms are hiring, which may result in increased unemployment. On the other hand, when the HWI is high, this means that many firms are hiring and potential employees have a great deal of choice regarding for whom they work. This may cause the firms to raise wages and salaries, which can (but does not always) have a negative impact on equities and bonds.

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The Help-Wanted Index surveys print advertising volume in 51 major newspapers across the country.

March Help-Wanted Index Falls; Conference Board to Cease Publishing

The Conference Board suggests that these data be used cautiously until a longer series is available to understand any seasonal patterns and correlations with other labor market statistics such as the Board's help-wanted index and employment and vacancy data from BLS.

New numbers

The board also produces the Consumer Confidence Index, the Help-Wanted Index and major economic, corporate governance and other management reports that have an impact on both business and the financial markets.

FitzGerald of Unilever heads Conference Board

Also on the labor front, The Conference Board reported that its help-wanted index, a reflection of the health of the labor market, moved up two percentage points from August, but was still down 10 points from the previous year.

GOVERNMENT, PRIVATE REPORTS PREDICT LESS SPENDING AHEAD

Into these data were merged aggregate indicators of labor and product market conditions in each country: the prime-age male unemployment rate, a national help-wanted index normalized by the size of the labor force, the consumer price index (CPI), two-digit industry average hourly earnings (AHE), two-digit industry employment, gross national product (GNP), and the Canadian-U.

Union wage determination in Canadian and U.S. manufacturing, 1964-1990: a comparative analysis

A slowdown is also apparent in the employment indicators: Average hours worked in manufacturing and the Conference Board's help-wanted index suffered sharp declines in the second quarter of 1995.

Soft landings on a bumpy runway

Key numbers, reporting agency and source publication, usual timing, reference period and revision are referenced for all major weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually published indicators, ranging in diversity from car sales and the help-wanted index to money and credit aggregates.

Handbook of Economic Indicators

The Conference Board's Help-Wanted Index fell one point to 21 in January compared to December.

Help-Wanted Index Falls 32%

8) With some manipulation, the Help-Wanted Index has been used in Beveridge curve analysis in the past.

The Job openings and labor turnover survey: what initial data show: early results from these new data series show trends that are in line with other surveys, both private industry and government, and allow for a more complete picture of the labor market

Abraham (1987) adjusted the help-wanted index for three factors that reflect changes in newspaper advertising practices rather than underlying employment demand.