This paper investigates how online job search assistance affects the labor market performance of unemployed workers. We report results from a randomized controlled trial among the universe of unemployment benefit recipients in Denmark. In the experiment, we exogenously vary the content of an online dashboard on the central web platform of the Danish public employment agency. Treatments differ in whether job seekers are provided with information about the number of vacancies in the job seeker’s preferred occupations, information about suitable alternative occupations, or both. We find that the provision of vacancy information has a positive impact on job seekers’ employment and earnings in the year after the intervention. Occupational recommendations also have positive, but rather transitory effects on labor market outcomes of treated job seekers. We examine which subgroups of job seekers benefit most strongly from our treatments and discuss implications for the design of digital job search assistance programs.

Please sign up for meetings here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JCU5l6ELVTtTGnGAvCRudlRHwmLpizIevH_cXtX0lk0/edit#gid=0