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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1992                   TAG: 9203040072
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

CLASSIFIEDS SAY JOB MARKET DISMAL

The Conference Board's monthly help-wanted index provided further evidence that employers are refraining from rehiring or expanding their work forces because of the uncertainty created by the weak economy.

Contrary to recent evidence of economic strength, the help-wanted index results suggested the nation's jobless situation wouldn't improve anytime soon and might possibly worsen.

"Any recovery is at least a few months away," said Kenneth Goldstein, a labor economist at the New York-based Conference Board. The help-wanted index declined to 85 points in January, down from 90 in December, the Conference Board said. The year-ago reading was 100. It was the lowest level for the index since an 84 reading in April of 1983, when the nation was recovering from the 1981-82 recession. The monthly numbers are measured against a base of 100 points set by 1967 job demands.

The seasonally adjusted index measures the amount of employment advertising in 51 U.S. newspapers and is considered a useful barometer of labor market conditions.

Release of the help-wanted index came a few days before the Labor Department is to report the February unemployment rate, which many economists believe will provide more insight into the economy's overall direction. The January unemployment rate was 7.1 percent, unchanged from December.

Job growth historically has been one of the so-called lagging indicators of an economic recovery, meaning it is among the last to show a turnaround after a recession has ended.