Healthcare Online Job Postings Decline Again

Online job listings for healthcare practitioners, technical workers, and healthcare support staff fell in July, the fourth straight month of declines, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted Online report.

Online job listings for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations fell by 61,200 listings in July to 487,500 and have fallen by 125,100 listing since January. Occupations that saw declines in July online listings included registered nurses, and physical and occupational therapists. However, even with the decline, there were still more than two advertised job vacancies for every skilled healthcare professional in search of work last month, with pay averaging $34.27 an hour, The Conference Board reports.

Online vacancies listed for healthcare support workers fell by 11,900 in July to 116,500. There were two healthcare support workers for every online job listing, with pay averaging $12.94 an hour, The Conference Board reports.

The board's Help Wanted Online Data Series tracks more than 1,000 online job boards across the United States.

In the overall economy, on line job listings fell by 217,000 listings in July, which follows a decline of 100,000 in June and a flat period in April and May. The Conference Board estimates that there were just over three unemployed people for every online advertised job vacancy in July.

"The national trend in labor demand, while positive in the first quarter of 2011, turned negative in the second quarter. And with the July loss, monthly labor demand is now 54,000 below the January level," said June Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board.

In May, demand for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations fell by 3,400 listings to 565,100. The drop was led by declines in advertised vacancies for speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists. Healthcare support positions grew by 4,100 new listings to 133,200, even though there were declines in openings for physical and occupational therapist assistants, The Conference Board reported.

In April, labor demand for healthcare practitioners and technical occupations fell by 28,600 listings to 568,500, while support positions fell by 11,400 new listings to 129,100 for the month. In March, healthcare practitioners and technical occupations grew by 3,700, and healthcare support positions posted 4,400 new listings, with the primary demand coming for physical therapist assistants, home health aides, nursing aides, and medical assistants, The Conference Board reported.

In January, The Conference Board reported 78,500 new listings for healthcare practitioners and technicians, and 16,600 new ads for healthcare support jobs, as healthcare jobs led a strong first month of 2011. However, February saw online job ads for practitioners and technical occupations drop by 4,300 owing largely to decreases in advertised vacancies for registered nurses and occupational and physical therapists, while support positions posted a decrease of 4,200.