Two indices that track online job listings reported a slight increase in U.S. online job postings in November, while another reported a slight dip from October.

Online job demand rose by 106,500 to almost 3.4 million advertised vancancies in November, The Conference Board reported. Similarly, the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index showed a rise in the index (5.9 points) over last month to 73.7, which was only 3.4 points below November 2008′s index. However, Monster’s Employment Index edged down one point in November. On a year-over basis, the MEI is down 17 percent.

Two things all three seem to agree on: The worst looks to be over, although recovery will be painfully slow.

The Conference Board reported that online labor demand has been “sluggish” but also “modestly positive” since the low point in April. “We have yet to see a significant increase in employers’ demand for labor, and, until we see job openings pick up, it will be hard to bring down the unemployment rate,” said Gad Levanon, senior economist for The Conference Board. “The gap between the number of unemployed and the number of advertised vacancies is about 12.3 million, with 4.8 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy.”

In October, the U.S. jobless rate topped 10 percent, as was predicted.

“With weak hiring persisting through the fall, which is traditionally a strong season for job growth, we could see the national unemployment rate rise above 11% in early 2010,” warned Rich Guha, CEO of JobSerf. “Unfortunately, C-Level positions dropped for the third month in a row, although manager, director and VP- level job volumes all saw modest gains.”

“The trend in online job availability has been largely flat for most of the year and remained so in November,” said Jesse Harriott, SVP and chief knowledge officer at Monster Worldwide. “While job losses have continued to ease, businesses remain cautious about adding to their payrolls in light of sustained economic uncertainty.” 

The Conference Board’s research agreed that labor demand was flat in the larger Western and Midwestern states. But the more populous states in other regions reported modest gains.

It added that healthcare occupations continued to be in demand, as they have throughout the current recession. It also noted a rise in demand for computer and mathematical-science professionals, as well as sales, business and finance occupations.There was decreased demand for office and administrative support occupations.

The CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index also showed that some parts of the U.S. fared better than others. The greatest hiring activity for the month was in Washington D.C., according to researchers.

In contrast, the Monster Employment Index found that healthcare professions declined to its lowest recorded levels in November, while the utilities industry registered the highest rate of increase in online job demand. Combined, healthcare practitioners and technical occupations saw the largest reduction in opportunities, dropping 23 points for the month.

On the plus side, the MEI reported that 12 of the Top 28 U.S. metro markets registered increases in online job demand in November. Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Detroit registered the largest gains — good news there for areas hit particularly hard by the recession.