
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 5, 1991                   TAG: 9104050159
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

JOB ADS FEWEST IN 8 YEARS

A widely followed survey of job advertising in February fell to the lowest level in nearly eight years, suggesting the labor market downturn will persist despite signs the recession is ending, economists said.

The Help-Wanted Advertising Index, a measurement of the volume of employment ads in newspapers nationwide, fell to 96, down from 100 in February and 142 in February 1990.

That put the index at the lowest level since a July 1983 reading of 97, said the Conference Board, the New York-based business research group that compiles the survey.

Release of the survey results Thursday came a day before the Labor Department was to announce the unemployment rate for March, which many economists predicted would be higher than the 6.5 percent rate of February.

"We've got a decline that runs literally across the country," said Kenneth Goldstein, a Conference Board economist.

Despite some indications the recession is nearing an end, cutbacks by retailing, real estate and financial companies indicate the decline in job advertising will continue, though at a slower pace, Goldstein said.

Such cutbacks, including layoffs and belt-tightening, are a result of overexpansion during the 1980s boom, he said.

"They realize that when the economy comes back, it won't be enough to keep all those people, all those stores, and so on," Goldstein said.

The Conference Board's help-wanted advertising index is considered a sensitive barometer of the economy's overall direction, since it indicates employer demand for a wide variety of jobs.

The index has been in a steady decline since December 1989, when it stood at 149. It fell to 75 during September and October of 1982, when the country also was in a recession.

Some economists paid little attention to the survey results, arguing they were outdated. Jerry Jordan, chief economist for First Interstate Bank in Los Angeles, said any reading of the economy in February would be skewed due to the influence of the Persian Gulf War, which ended toward the end of that month.

Jordan said a recent increase in home buying indicates the economy is strengthening.

by CNB