It's not just cooler consumer attitudes and spending (despite some relief from high gas prices). Business is bracing for the prospect of less profit growth — because volumes are down and rising costs could start to squeeze margins. That makes business attitudes no more bullish than consumer attitudes.
Ken Goldstein, Economist, Conference Board

In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in eight of nine U.S. regions. Steepest declines occurred in the West North Central (-17.5%), Middle Atlantic (-17.3%), Mountain (-9.2%) and West South Central (-9.2%) regions. This according to The Conference Board's Help-Wanted Advertising Index , a measure of job offerings in major newspapers across America. The Index now stands at 31. It was 37 one year ago.

Says Ken Goldstein, labor economist at The Conference Board, "The latest data show that job advertising in print edged lower again in August, while the rise in ad volume online continued to slow. A stronger job market this winter does not seem likely, given the overall economic environment. It's not just cooler consumer attitudes and spending (despite some relief from high gas prices). Business is bracing for the prospect of less profit growth — because volumes are down and rising costs could start to squeeze margins. That makes business attitudes no more bullish than consumer attitudes."

New online job ads increased to 2,574,280 according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series™. The August level was 239,905, or 10 percent above the previous month and followed a modest decline in July. In August, there were 1.71 online job ads per 100 persons in the U.S. labor force, compared with 1.55 in July and 1.63 in June.