Job Openings Up in December

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 3.4 million job openings on the last business day of December, an increase of "39 percent since the end of the recession in June 2009." This also signals an increase since the end of November, when the number of job openings totaled 3.1 million. The BLS Editor's Desk notes, "The job openings rate—2.5 percent in December—has trended upward since the end of the recession in June 2009, when the job openings rate was 1.8 percent."

3.2 Million Job Openings in November

A report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that there were 3.2 million job openings in November, unchanged from October. This is still below the 4.4 million job openings that were recorded when the recession officially started in December 2007, though it exceeds by one million the number of openings in July 2009, which was "the most recent trough for the series." According to the report, "The number of job openings has increased 30 percent since the end of the recession in June 2009."

The report notes, "Several industries saw increases in the number of job openings over the year, while the number of job openings decreased for finance and insurance, professional and business services, and federal government. The Midwest and South regions had increases in the number of job openings and the West experienced a decline over the year."

The BLS Editor's Desk further summarizes, "There were 2.8 million job openings in private industry. Within private industry, there were 87,000 job openings in construction, and 606,000 in education and health services."

Job Opening Level Continues Upward Trend But Still Trails Pre-Recession Figure

A recent report published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the number of job openings continues to increase, following an upward trend that began when the recession--as designated by the National Bureau of Economic Research--ended in 2009. The 3.1 million job openings in March just outpaced the 3.0 million in February, making it the first time since November 2008 that a job opening level at or above 3 million was sustained for consecutive months.

The job opening level's continued improvement is a positive sign, but it is clear that much progress must be made before it can reach its pre-recession figure, when there were 4.4 million openings in December 2007. A short summary of the new report may be found here.

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