Online Help Wanted Ads jump 34% in the past year

According to the Conference Board, online help wanted ads surged by one-third in the 12 months ended October. October advertised vacancies were up by 113,700 from the September level, which compares favorably to the market's expectation that private payrolls increased by about 80K in October. Interestingly, California was the largest contributor to new vacancies, accounting for 32,100 jobs, or almost 30% of the total. This is welcome news for a state that is really struggling. Even Nevada saw an increase, albeit quite modest. (We spent a day in Las Vegas last month and I was surprised at how many people I saw on the streets, and how difficult it was to get a restaurant reservation on a weekday night.)

The index is still shy of the high set in 2008, but on balance it's one more reason to remain optimistic about the future course of the economy.

HT: "brodero"