A 1-year study of 12 U.S. labor market areas compared job listings in the help wanted ads of local newspapers to job orders in the local public employment services to help determine what the role of the public employment service should be. The study gathered two types of data. One type was used to compare the "stock," or inventory, of jobs still open at the end of the month in employment service files to the stock in the help wanted columns on the Sunday nearest the end of the month; and the other type identified the "flow" of new listings available to the job seeker during a particular month. Further analysis of the flow data matched employers who used both intermediaries within the month. More than 204,000 ads were examined, and job orders from 30 local employment services were reviewed. A theoretical model (which appears in the report) of recruitment and job search provided a framework for the data. It was found that employers use employment services less than want ads; that many employers who list with the employment services also simultaneously use want ads; and that only about 11% of all employers use the two public intermediaries, primarily employers offering (1) high-turnover, low-pay jobs, (2) jobs in hard-to-fill, demand occupations, (3) jobs of uncertain income, and (4) less desirable opportunities in high-volume occupations. Implications were drawn with regard to the labor market, employment service operations, and labor exchange theory. Appendixes include graphs and tables and a glossary of terms. (LMS)