Jobs, Job Opening | featured news

Job openings in the U.S. rose in November to the highest level in five months as companies looked past congressional wrangling over a package of tax increases and government budget cuts set to take effect this month. The number of positions waiting to be filled climbed by 11,000 to 3.68 million from a revised 3.67 million in October, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Hiring was little changed and firings eased.

The number of U.S. job openings fell slightly in August, a troubling sign for a labor market that is recovering at a painfully slow pace. Job openings - a measure of labor demand - dropped to 3.56 million from 3.59 million in July, the Labor Department said on Wednesday in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The data casts a small shadow over recent signs of improvement in the labor market.

U.S. employers posted the most job openings in four years in June, a positive sign that hiring may pick up. The Labor Department said Tuesday job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 3.8 million in June, up from 3.7 million in May. That's the most since July 2008. Layoffs fell. The data follow Friday's report that said employers in July added the most jobs in five months. A rise in openings could signal better hiring in the coming months. It typically takes one to three months to fill a job.

U.S. employers advertised more jobs in May than April, a hopeful sign after three months of weak hiring. Job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 3.6 million, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That's up from 3.4 million in April. It's also the second-highest level in nearly four years, just behind March's 3.7 million.

Companies in July advertised the most jobs in three years, and layoffs declined – a bit of hope for a weak economy. Still, many employers are in no rush to fill openings. The Labor Department said Wednesday that employers increased their postings to 3.23 million from 3.17 million in June. That is the largest number of openings since August 2008. Typically, it takes anywhere from one to three months to fill an opening.

Job openings in March were the most in 2-1/2 years, a government report showed on Wednesday, pointing to a firming labor market tone.

The number of job openings rose at their fastest pace in almost seven years in February, according to a new report from the Labor Department.