Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Ethiopia's salt trails
For centuries merchants have traveled to Ethiopia to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. Slideshow
Sponsored Links
February job openings rise to 3.5 million
Men looking for labor jobs stand along a street in Brooklyn, New York on April 3, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Eduardo Munoz
WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of unemployed American workers for every job opening fell in February to its lowest since late 2008, pointing to ongoing healing in the still-weak labor market.
The U.S. Labor Department said on Tuesday the number of U.S. jobs waiting to be filled rose by 21,000 in February to 3.498 million.
Job openings at the end of the month - unfilled, posted vacancies that employers plan to fill within 30 days - help describe demand for labor in the United States.
February's data showed that on average there were 3.66 unemployed workers available for every opening. The ratio had shot up to nearly seven in mid-2009 when the economy still languished in recession.
Still, despite the progress made since then - the ratio in February was its lowest since November 2008 - the data shows the labor market's healing process still has a long way to go.
The number of unemployed workers per job opening was 1.7 just before the 2007-2009 recession began.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Neil Stempleman)
- Tweet this
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
If these posted vacancies went unfilled that employers had planned to fill within 30 days maybe the slave wages and no benefits that they were offering weren’t appealing enough to get people to apply?
Follow Reuters