Job-opening ads increase in October
There may be good news for the nation's job seekers, like these waiting to enter a career fair in Manhattan in October. U.S. employers advertised more job in October than September, a hopeful sign that hiring could pick up in the coming months. (Oct. 24, 2012) Credit: AP
WASHINGTON -- U.S. employers advertised more job in October than September, a hopeful sign that hiring could pick up in the coming months.
The Labor Department says job openings rose by 128,000 to 3.68 million. That's the most since June.
Even with the increase, the number of available jobs is still below the roughly 4 million that were advertised each month before the recession began in December 2007.
And the job market remains very competitive. With nearly 12.3 million people unemployed in October, there were 3.3 unemployed people, on average, competing for each open job. In a healthy economy, that ratio is roughly 2 to 1.
Companies kept creating jobs in November at a modest pace. Employers added 146,000 net jobs last month, the government said Friday in a separate report.
