For Those Looking For Jobs DeLong Points Out - Newspaper Help Wanteds are at 41-year lows

Help-wanted advertising falls to 41-year low as firms delay hiring BLOOMBERG NEWS. WASHINGTON - The volume of help-wanted advertising in major U.S. newspapers fell in April to the lowest in more than 41 years as companies put off hiring to focus on cutting costs.

The Conference Board's help-wanted advertising index dropped to 35, the lowest since September 1961, from 38 in March. It was the third consecutive monthly decline. The index stood at 47 in April 2002.

"April may represent a low point for the ailing labor market," said Ken Goldstein, an economist at the research group, which is based in New York. "After initial unemployment claims revealed a big rise in layoffs, want-ad volume significantly declined from already very depressed levels."