The number of available jobs in the United States jumped in December to near a three-year high, supporting other data that show a brighter outlook for hiring.
Companies and governments posted 3.38 million jobs in December, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That's up from the 3.12 million advertised in the previous month and nearly matches the three-year high reached in September.
December was also a big month for hiring, but there were still 13.1 million people unemployed that month. That means an average of 3.9 people competed for each open job in December, the first time in four years that ratio was below 4 to 1. In a healthy job market, the ratio is usually around 2 to 1.A higher number of "quits" tends to signal a strong labor market, with lots more jobs and higher pay. With pay levels stagnant, not many jobs offer better opportunities. The result: a low-turnover labor market, with few being laid off, few quitting and moderate numbers of hires.
Although the fact that less people are being laid off is positive news and shows that the economy is very slowly recovering, to the average worker the labor market can still few very stagnant. Should candidates in the coming election keep a strong focus on job creation? Does the slight increase in jobs really mean that the economy is improving?
I think continuing to focus on job creation even when there has been a recent increase in jobs. Creating more jobs will offer people a chance to move up in their field and possible create a less stagnate job market.
ReplyDeleteI agree that even with an increase in jobs recently we can't stop focusing on creating new ones. I think that if we create more jobs we will slowly increase the overall success of the economy.
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