The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index — a key measure of job offerings in major newspapers across America — dipped one point in January. The Index now stands at 21. It was 31 one year ago.

In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in five of the nine U.S. regions. Steepest declines occurred in the East South Central (-16.3%), Pacific (-12.2%) and South Atlantic (-5.3%) regions.

Says Ken Goldstein, labor economist at The Conference Board: "The best thing about 2008 is that it will end next winter. Many economists debate whether we're in a recession or on the verge of one. What's more important is that people are behaving as if a recession is already here. Consumer confidence fell sharply this month.

Consumers fear that costs for food, energy and housing will continue to rise faster than incomes, squeezing household budgets, which will cause a pullback in spending. The weakness in the labor market reinforces these sentiments. The latest data on job advertising in print suggests there's virtually no chance that labor market activity will improve over the next few months. To the contrary, there is a chance the labor market could grind to a halt."