IS INTERNET JOB SEARCH STILL INEFFECTIVE?

Using National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97) data for 2005-8, we find that unemployed persons who look for work online are re-employed about 25% faster than comparable workers who do not search online. This finding contrasts with previous results for 1998-2001, and is robust to controls for cognitive test scores and detailed indicators of Internet access. Internet job search (IJS) appears to be most effective in reducing unemployment durations when used to contact friends and relatives, to send out resumes or fill out applications and also to look at advertisements. We detect a weak positive relationship between IJS and wage growth between jobs.