The Conference Board-Lightcast Help Wanted OnLine Index of job ads rose in February to a reading of 155.8 (July 2018=100), up from January’s upwardly revised 151.1 reading.

February’s increase follows a 0.3% decrease between January 2024 and December 2023. Overall, the index is down 7.3% from a year ago.

The index measures the change in advertised online job vacancies over time, reflecting monthly trends in employment opportunities across the US. The Conference Board produces the index in collaboration with Lightcast (formerly Emsi Burning Glass), a labor market data and analysis provider. The ads are collected in real time from more than 50,000 online job domains.