Help-Wanted Advertising Index

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The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index Dips Again

June 26, 2008

The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index dipped one point in May. The Index is now at 17, down 10 points from one year ago.

The Conference Board is the global business research and membership organization.

In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in all nine U.S. regions, with steepest declines in the West North Central (-25.9%), Pacific (-24.7%) and East North Central (-19.0%) regions.

Says Ken Goldstein, Labor Economist at The Conference Board: "There's no sign that improvement is just around the corner. The number of jobs fell in each of the first five months of the year. A prolonged period of slow economic growth and small employment declines is feeding a sense of frustration. Little wonder why consumer expectations are at an all-time low. Expect more of the same right through the summer and fall months."

About The Help-Wanted Advertising Index

The Conference Board surveys help-wanted print advertising volume in 51 major newspapers across the country every month. Because ad volume has proven to be sensitive to labor market conditions, this measure provides a gauge of change in the local, regional and national supply of jobs.

Latest seasonally-adjusted results follow:

	May 08	Apr 08	Mar 08	May 07
National Index	17	18	19	27
Proportion of Labor Markets With Rising Want-Ad Volume	27%	35%	35%	20%
Unemployment Rate	5.5%	5.0%	5.1%	4.5%

For further information contact:
Mr. Ken Goldstein
at +1 212 339 0331
ken.goldstein@conference-board.org