US online job ads increased in September by 145,100 to more than 4.7 million, according to The Conference Board’s report on online job ads released today. Most occupations showed widespread gains over the month and most states showed small gains.

The September increase follows a decrease in August but an increase in July.

Nine of the largest 10 online occupational categories posted increases in September. Sales and related ads had the largest increase in September, up by 30,800 to a total of 475,600, followed by computer and mathematical science ads, which increased by 26,300 to a total of 583,800 ads; office and administrative support ads rose by 30,800 to a total of 475,600 ads.

Transportation and material moving ad posted the sole decline, down by 10,100 to a total of 314,000 ads.

Separately, The Conference Board today released a report that finds the exceptional longevity of the bull market that followed the Great Recession appears to have stretched leadership tenures at large US public companies, resulting in a higher average CEO age.

In 2009, at the peak of the Great Recession, the typical CEO of an S&P 500 held his or her position for 7.2 years — the shortest average tenure ever reported by The Conference Board. However, CEO tenure started to rebound soon after, rising to 10.8 years by 2015. In 2017, departing CEO tenure was the highest recorded since 2002, at nearly 11 years. Consistent with this evidence, in 2017 the average age of a sitting S&P 500 CEO was 58.3 years, more than two years older than the average CEO in 2009.

The study, CEO Succession Practices: 2018 Edition, was developed in collaboration with executive search provider Heidrick & Struggles (NASD: HSII), and annually documents and analyzes chief executive officer succession events of S&P 500 companies.