In the last three months, help-wanted advertising rose in seven of the nine U.S. regions. Strongest increases occurred in the New England (15.6 percent), East North Central (12.0 percent) and West South Central (8.1 percent) regions. Declines occurred in the Mountain (-6.6 percent) and South Atlantic (-1.8 percent) regions.

"The labor market is finally sparking to life," said Conference Board Economist Ken Goldstein. "Initial unemployment claims are down. In fact, they've been trending lower in the last two months. Finally, in November, the volume of help-wanted ads showed an increase of two points. This is the first rise of even this small amount since June."

The Conference Board surveys help-wanted advertising volume in 51 major newspapers across the country every month. Because ad volume has proven to be sensitive to labor market conditions, this measure provides an important gauge of change in the local, regional and national supply of jobs.