US labor market could grind to a halt - Conf Board

NEW YORK, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The number of help-wanted ads
in U.S. newspapers fell in January, a private research group
said on Thursday.

The Conference Board said its gauge measuring help-wanted
ad volume edged down to 21 from 22 in December. The index was
31 a year earlier.

"Many economists debate whether we're in a recession or on
the verge of one. What's more important is people are behaving
as if a recession is already here," said Ken Goldstein, labor
economist at the Conference Board, in a statement.

"The latest data on job advertising in print suggests
there's virtually no chance that labor market activity will
improve over the next few months. To the contrary, there is a
chance the labor market could grind to a halt," Goldstein
said.

Help-wanted ads have declined in five of the nine U.S.
regions tracked in the last three months, with the steepest
decrease in the East South Central. The ads in that region
decreased by 16.3 percent.

The research firm surveys help-wanted ad volume at 51
newspapers across the United States each month.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by James Dalgleish)