BLS Job Openings - More Not Bad is Good

Bloomberg:

Job openings in the U.S. rose in October for the first time in three months, reaching the highest level in two years, a government report showed.

Openings increased by 351,000 to 3.36 million, the most since August 2008, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The number of people hired decreased from the prior month and separations also fell.

Openings increased 12 percent in October from a revised 3.01 million in the prior month, the Labor Department said.

The rate of job openings rose to 2.5 percent from 2.3 percent in September, according to today’s report. Professional and business services, which includes accountants, computer systems experts and temporary-help agencies, had the biggest increases in available employment, followed by education and health care. Openings dropped at construction firms and government agencies.

Compared with the 14.8 million Americans who were unemployed in October, today’s figures indicate there were 4.4 people vying for every opening, up from about 1.8 when the recession began in December 2007. The number of jobless climbed to 15.1 million last month, pushing the unemployment rate up to a seven-month high of 9.8 percent, the Labor Department reported last week.

 Again, nascent recovery.

Full arelease from BLS here BLS Job Openings