Oregon's Help Wanted Ads Rose in December

Wanted Analytics collects information about online job postings, and reports about these online ads each month through The Conference Board's Help-Wanted Online (HWOL) data series. Ad volume serves as a proxy for measuring current hiring demand.

The total number of online ads in Oregon increased by 2,200 to 62,300 in December. New ads made up 42,200 of the total. Oregon's online ad volume has followed the U.S. trend in recent years. Ad volumes hit their lowest levels in 2009. Oregon and the U.S. saw a return to pre-recession ad volume early in 2011. Oregon lagged the U.S. slightly in total ad growth throughout 2011 and most of 2012, but caught up with the nation in recent months.

Among Oregon's metropolitan areas, online ad volume trended up in Portland, Salem, Medford, and Eugene. Ad volume remained relatively flat in Corvallis at year's end. After picking up some momentum in 2012, ad volume in Bend has been choppy in recent months, and showed a slight drop in December.