May 13--Florida is showing a glimmer of hope in terms of labor demand in the state, according to a report released Tuesday.

But the job search picture is still far from bright.

The report from The Conference Board, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, analyzed online help wanted ads and showed that while job demand in the state decreased by 6,300 in April, there was an increase of 5,000 vacancies over the past three months.

Still, the report showed that Florida's supply/demand rate stands at 5.4, meaning there are just more than five unemployed people in the state for each advertised vacancy. That rate stood at a mere 1.1 in October of 2006.

Nationally, there are an average of four people for every online vacancy ad, according to the study. North Carolina had the highest supply/demand rate at 6.6, while Maryland, with an supply/demand rate of 2, had the lowest.

The Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice area is one of the hardest hit in Florida, with an supply/demand rate of 6.66, according to the report.

That places it third worst behind Port St. Lucie with 9.64 and Lakeland with 7.26.

The Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice area had 6,900 online help wanted ads in April of last year compared to 5,900 ads this April -- a decline of 14.5 percent.

Least hardest hit in terms of the supply/demand rate were Tallahassee with 2.49, Gainesville with 2.22 and Fort Walton with 2.25.

The figures didn't surprise Dale Vollrath, owner of TRC Staffing Services in Sarasota, who says manufacturing employment in the Bradenton-Sarasota area is still in the doldrums.

"Manufacturing by and large is still really flat," Vollrath said. "We have seen several manufacturing companies move out of the area -- Hi-Stat and Wellcraft -- and I think that's had a negative impact on job growth."

It also hasn't helped that the housing market in Bradenton has been stagnant since the real estate market when bust in 2006.

Figures released Tuesday by the Florida Association of Realtors showed that home sales rose by 25 percent in the state during the first quarter but only rose by 2 percent in the Bradenton-Sarasota area.

"Obviously we have been so dependent on home construction and commercial construction and that's pretty much dead, too," Vollrath said. "We may be harder hit than other places because I see those two areas strongly impacted."

Manatee's unemployment rate hit 11.1 percent in March, the highest it had been since 1983. Though the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday that 539,000 jobs were lost nationally in April -- a better-than-expected figure -- experts expect companies to continue to reduce their staffs or hold off on hiring to manage costs.

Nancy Engel, executive director of the Manatee Economic Development Council, says there are initial signs that the job situation may improve locally but it will still take time.

"We've been busy with projects. That's all I can say," Engel said. "But we have a long way to go from getting busy with projects, to closing and getting into hiring. It will take a while for employment to pick up."

Sally Hill, spokeswoman for the Suncoast Workforce Board, said her agency has seen no real improvement in terms of job-seekers being matched with available jobs.

"It remains steady, both the number of people coming into our offices looking for work and needing (employment) assistance," Hill said. "We're also seeing an increase in people interested in going back to school. We're certainly hoping to see a turnaround in sight sometime soon."

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