News Item:Associated Press
The government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that on the last day of December the number of job openings in the United States hit a record high of 7.3 million.
The Associated Press adds that the total of 7.3 million open positions is “far greater than the number of unemployed, which stood at 6.3 million.”
Businesses have shrugged off a variety of potential troubles for the economy in the past two months and kept on hiring. The 35-day partial government shutdown began Dec. 22, and growth in China, Europe and Japan has weakened, threatening U.S. exports. Still, employers added 304,000 jobs in January, the government said earlier this month, the most in nearly a year.
The jump in openings in December suggests hiring will likely remain robust... Tuesday’s data also showed that employers boosted hiring in December, while the number of people who quit remained unchanged at a healthy level of about 3.5 million. Higher quits are typically sign of a dynamic job market, as most people quit to take a new job.
The number of unemployed typically runs far ahead of job openings, but that switched early last year.