That is the second-highest total number of advertised vacancies since records were first kept in 2000, following July’s 5.7 million mark.
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The number of positions waiting to be filled increased by 149,000 to 5.53 million from a revised 5.38 million in August, a report from the Labor Department showed Thursday. Then, the economy was just transitioning from the peak of the dotcom bubble into a recession. However, the gap between openings and hires suggests there may be a skills mismatch between what employers are looking for and what applicants actually have. The increases were also seen across all geographic regions in the country. Payrolls rose in October by the most in 10 months and the jobless rate fell to a seven-year low, showing firmer labor- market progress that might convince the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rate next month. In addition, the quits rate for durable goods manufacturing rose two-tenths, to 1.2%, indicating that workers in this sector are feeling better about their future employment prospects. This, along with a steady unemployment insurance utilization rate, suggests that worker confidence held steady in September despite a slower pace of employment growth during the month.
The JOLTS report is closely-watched by the Fed and others as the report gives us a more granular view on how many jobs are available, how many people are leaving jobs, and gives a sense of how well the labour market’s “plumbing”, so to speak, is operating.
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Construction job openings were at their highest in February 2007, at a rate of 3.5%. JOLTS, as its known, includes more details about hiring and firing than the more widely-known monthly jobs reports, and it is valued by investors for hints about underlying trends despite the fact that its release lags the jobs report by a month.
