Online advertisements for Hawai'i jobs vacancies tumbled in April compared to a year earlier.

Figures released by the Conference Board show there were 15,600 online ads for positions here last month.

That seasonally adjusted figure is down substantially from the 19,400 ads reported in April 2008, according to Conference Board data.

The New York-based business research group said nationally there was also a decline in the number of Web advertisements for vacancies. It said there were 3.12 million vacancies advertised during April, or 130,900 fewer than a year earlier.

Hawai'i's unemployment rate has been racing upward, hitting the highest joblessness in 31 years in March, according to the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.