A Cautionary Note on the Help Wanted Online Data, Accessible Data
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Figure 1: Job openings in JOLTS and HWOL
Left Panel: This figure is a line chart measuring the level of job vacancies from 2000 to 2015. Three lines are plotted: JOLTS (blue), Composite HW (gray), and HWOL raw (green). All three measures declined during the recession. Since 2010, all three measures have increased.
Right Panel: This figure is a line chart measuring the 12-month percent change in vacancies from 2000 to 2015 using JOLTS (blue), Composite HW (gray), and HWOL raw (green). All three measures were increasing pre-recession, declined during the recession, and subsequently increased back to positive growth. Recently, the 12-month percent change in vacancies has begun to decrease again.
Figure 2: HWOL ads and average Craigslist job ad price
This is a line chart with two lines plotted from 2005 to 2016, total ads (blue) and Craigslist ad price (gray). Craigslist ad price is a weighted-average across 52 MSAs. Both ads and ad price have increased significantly since the recession. The recent data suggests a possible inverse relationship between ad price and total ads. A sharp increase in Craigslist ad price in 2015 has resulted in total ads decreasing.
Figure 3: The effect of changes in Craigslist job ad prices from $0 to $25 on HWOL ads
Upper Left Panel: This figure is a line chart with two lines plotted from 2006 to 2016, affected (blue) and unaffected (gray). The figure shows that the ad prices do seem to have an impact on ads posted. In late 2012 when the price increased, more ads have been posted in unaffected MSAs when previously the two lines were converging.
Upper Right Panel: This figure is a line chart with two lines plotted from 2006 to 2016, affected (blue) and unaffected (gray). The figure shows that the ad prices do seem to have an impact on ads posted. In late 2013, there is a sharp drop in ads in affected MSAs when the price of ads increases.
Lower Left Panel: This figure is a line chart with two lines plotted from 2006 to 2016, affected (blue) and unaffected (gray). The figure shows that the ad prices do seem to have an impact on ads posted. In late 2014 when the ad price increased, ads in affected MSAs started to drop while they increased in unaffected MSAs.
Lower Right Panel: This figure is a line chart with two lines plotted from 2006 to 2016, affected (blue) and unaffected (gray). The figure shows that the ad prices do seem to have an impact on ads posted. In late 2015 when ad prices increased, ads in affected MSAs dropped dramatically.
Figure 4: Adjusted total and new HWOL ads
Left Panel: This figure is a line chart of total HWOL ads from 2005 to 2016. There are two lines, adjusted total HWOL (blue) and published total HWOL (gray). The adjustment is applied to the data from 2012 onwards. Total HWOL ads dropped during the recession before rebounding during the recovery. Recently, total HWOL ads have started to decrease.
Right Panel: This figure is a line chart of adjusted new HWOL ads from 2005 to 2016. There are two lines, adjusted total HWOL (blue) and published total HWOL (gray). The adjustment is applied to the data from 2012 onwards. New HWOL ads dropped during the recession before rebounding during the recovery. Recently, new HWOL ads have started to decrease.
Figure 5: Adjusted composite HWI
This figure is a line chart that shows the level of vacancies through three measures; JOLTS (blue), Composite HW adjusted (gray), and Composite HW (green). All three measures decreased during the recession and increased during the recovery.