The number of job openings dropped a bit in September. The data suggested that the labor market is still recovering at a sluggish pace. This was according to the report released by the Labor Department last Tuesday.
Job openings reading is the measure of labor demand in the United States. It dropped from 3.66 million in August to 3.56 million in September. This was according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey by the Labor Department. This level is a five month low and showed uneven progress in the labor market.
The hiring rate in the nation also dropped to3.1 percent from 3.3 percent the previous month. Workers were less willing to leave their current jobs. The rate at which Americans leave their current employers dropped from 1.6 percent to 1.5 percent. The rate has an average of above 2 percent over the last few years before the 2007 to 2009 recession.
Finding work is harder as more American companies have to slash jobs due to a slowing global economy and worries about the fiscal cliff. The figures showed that the increase in October in private employment would be hard to sustain if the economy does grow faster.
The report released last Tuesday came as Americans went out to vote for the next president. The presidential campaign focused on the lackluster economy as well as the labor market. Both candidates closely watched the release of the weekly jobs report.
According to Tuesday’s report, there were 3.4 unemployed Americans fighting for every job opening in September. This remained the same from August. Before the recession, the ratio was 2 workers for each job opening.
In a separate labor market report released last week, it showed positive signs for October with the pace of hiring in an upward trend. At the same time, more workers continued their job hunt.
Leave a Reply