Job openings in U.S. rise to second-highest in over a decade

WASHINGTON – Job openings in the U.S. climbed in October to the second highest level in almost 14 years as employers looked for staff to contend with strengthening demand.

The number of positions waiting to be filled rose by 149,000 to 4.83 million from a revised 4.69 million in September, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. Other aspects of the report, including, hiring, firing and quits, were little changed.

Vacancies are increasing as companies, running lean from recession-era job cutting, seek to boost headcount amid accelerating growth in the world’s largest economy. Continued improvements in the labor market will be needed to carry that momentum into next year and help assure Federal Reserve policy makers that the economy can withstand the first interest-rate increase since 2006.

“The labor market is in good shape heading into year- end,” Guy Berger, a U.S. economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Conn., said before the report. “There’s no sign whatsoever that it’s slowing down in any fundamental way.”

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The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey projected there would be 4.8 million openings in October after a previously reported 4.74 million the month before.

Yellen favorite

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, adds context to monthly payrolls figures by measuring dynamics such as resignations, help-wanted ads and the pace of hiring. Although it lags the Labor Department’s other jobs data by a month, Fed Chair Janet Yellen follows the report as a measure of labor-market tightness and worker confidence.

Today’s survey showed the increase in job openings was led by a jump at hotels and restaurants. Construction companies and businesses in trades, transportation and utilities also gained.

The number of people hired eased to 5.06 million in October from 5.08 million the prior month. The hiring rate was little changed at 3.6 percent. The gauge calculates the number of hires during the month divided by the number of employees who worked or received pay during that period.

Some 2.72 million people quit their jobs in October, down from 2.74 million the prior month that was the most in more than six years. The quits rate, which shows the willingness of workers to leave their jobs, fell to 1.9 percent in October, compared with a 2 percent reading when the recession started almost six years ago.

Job dismissals

About 1.7 million were dismissed from their jobs in October, up from 1.65 million the prior month. In the 12 months October, the economy created a net 2.6 million jobs, representing 57.2 million hires and 54.5 million separations.

Today’s report also showed almost 1.9 unemployed people were vying for every opening in March, about the same as the 1.8 when the last recession began in December 2007.

Sallie Spencer of Fairfield, Conn., represents one labor-market success story. The 57-year-old had been out of work for a year and a half after losing her job as a technology trainer. While she had hoped to find private sector work in information technology, she found a “perfect” position this month as a digital literacy trainer at the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, she said.

“I had to reassess myself and tailor my job search in a more detailed manner,” said Spencer, who is currently enrolled in an information technology certification program. “I feel fortunate. If I had continued to be unemployed, it could have gotten pretty grim.”

Fed officials are monitoring labor market improvement as they weigh the timing of an interest rate increase, with a majority of policy makers forecasting they’ll do so at some point next year. The next meeting of the Fed’s Open Market Committee is Dec. 16-17.

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