The number of help-wanted ads fell in August.

The Conference Board’s national index that measures advertising volume in 51 newspapers dropped 4.7% in August. The business-supported research group said that, although the national unemployment rate dropped to 7% in August from 7.3% in July, the percentage of newspapers reporting increases in job listings dropped to 14% from 39%. The smallest decline was in the Pacific region, where ads dropped 0.9% in the newspapers of six major cities in California and Washington.