US job,openings fall to lowest level in 9 years

Job openings fell to the lowest level in nine years in July, according to a Labor Department report Wednesday, as US businesses remain reluctant to hire despite signs the economy is improving.

The department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey, or JOLTS report, found that businesses and government advertised 2.4 million open positions on the last day in July, down from 2.5 million in June. That's also the fewest openings since the department began compiling the data in December 2000.

Still, jobs are being added in some sectors, as companies seek more health care and technology workers.

The report underscores the tough competition that jobless Americans face. With 14.5 million unemployed people in July and only 2.4 million openings, that means there were six unemployed people, on average, for every job opening.
The report also adds to evidence that companies likely will wait until the economy is clearly recovering before hiring new employees. Many analysts believe the economy is likely to grow at a healthy 3 per cent rate in the second half of this year, pulling the country out of the worst recession since the 1930s.

But they also worry that the growth will be difficult to sustain, particularly once government stimulus measures, such as the Cash for Clunkers program that ended last month, are no longer in effect.

To be sure, there are some signs that hiring is slowly resuming. About one-third of both manufacturing and service sector companies plan to add jobs in September, according to a survey. That's the highest combined total for the two sectors since October 2008, the group said. - AP