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Job openings rise in January on retail bounce back

People wait in line to meet a job recruiter at the UJA-Federation Connect to Care job fair in New York March 6, 2013. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

People wait in line to meet a job recruiter at the UJA-Federation Connect to Care job fair in New York March 6, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

WASHINGTON | Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:34am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bounce back in vacant retail positions lifted the number of jobs open in the United States in January, but the overall tone continued to point to only a moderate improvement in the labor market.

Job openings - a measure of labor demand - increased to a seasonally adjusted 3.7 million in January from 3.6 million in December, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Tuesday.

Retail sector job openings increased by 34,000 in January after declining the prior month. Job openings in manufacturing and construction rose modestly. There were also a small increase in government job openings.

Vacancies declined in education and health services, and leisure and hospitality.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
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Comments (3)
ChangeWhat wrote:
Hilarious!

Great we have 34,000 new jobs in the retail sector, now when the sequester dicatorship law of the land fully takes affect how many government employees are losing jobs? Another increase to unemployment and more food stamps for a population near you.

Mar 12, 2013 11:34am EDT  --  Report as abuse
bobber1956 wrote:
You are having to go back a full 11/2 months to find some, probably wrong to late to prove it now, data to spin obamanomics? reuters you are pethetic-and wrong.

Mar 12, 2013 11:41am EDT  --  Report as abuse
ConradU812 wrote:
Job-openings? Is that like seeing clouds and assuming it’s raining? I have to say that I’ve never seen another news agency post a report based on these statistics….maybe because it’s worthless?…

Mar 12, 2013 3:45pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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