U.S. online advertised jobs rose by 250,000 in May to almost 3.4 million from April's numbers, according to The Conference Board's measure of online help-wanted ads released today.

Still online jobs ads remained down 25% year-over-year in May.

"April and May are both months when businesses typically step up their demand for workers," said Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board. "This year, while April was weak, by May employers were placing ads for workers in numerous locations across the nation. Over the last four months, there are now about a half dozen states where the drop in labor demand shows signs of leveling off and another handful of states show some very moderate increases."