US online job ads fell by 162,100 in February to approximately 5.33 million, according to The Conference Board’s report on online job ads. February’s decline follows a gain of 13,500 online job ads in January.

“While 2015 showed slow positive growth averaging about 25,000 ads per month, the first two months of 2016 have shown weakness in labor demand,” said Gad Levanon, managing director of macroeconomic and labor market research at The Conference Board. “The overall level of demand still remains high, but the very weak start of 2016 suggests a possible temporary weakening in employer demand for labor.”  

In February, eight of the 10 largest online job categories posted decreases.

Office and administrative support ads posted the largest loss, down by 48,700 to a total of 553,700, followed by transportation and material moving ads, which fell by 29,500 to 411,400.

In February, the professional category saw a large gain of 11,200 job ads in management in February but losses of 10,800 job ads in healthcare and 12,500 in computer/math.