The Craigslist Jobs Indicator

Here is an email from "Taperwood" who has been tracking Craigslist classified ads for the Los Angeles and Seattle areas as a proxy for job openings and business demand.

Taperwood writes ...

Hello Mish

The Friday Craigslist Los Angeles and Seattle job listings I track are down considerably over the past month.

From the lows of 2009, where they averaged 700-800 in LA and 500's in Seattle, they spiked to over 1000 in LA and to 800 in Seattle starting around January/February 2010 until as recently as this May.

Then job listings started a gradual decline into the 900's in LA and 700's in Seattle. Last Friday, the numbers were barely 800 in LA and 580 in Seattle.

These numbers are getting uncomfortably close to the numbers of 2009.

Thanks Taperwood.

This informal indicator echoes the slowdown we saw in the June Services ISM released this morning.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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