U.S. job openings jump to 14-year high

WASHINGTON - U.S. employers advertised the most job openings in nearly 14 years in November, evidence that the strong hiring that occurred last year will likely continue into 2015.

The Labor Department says job openings rose 2.9 percent to 4.97 million, the most since January 2001. More job vacancies generally lead to more hiring, though employers have been slow to fill their openings for most of the recovery.

The healthy data echoes last Friday's jobs report, which showed that employers added a net total of 252,000 jobs in December, capping the best year for hiring in 15 years. Nearly 3 million more people started earning paychecks in 2014. That was the most since 1999.

A missing piece of the puzzle in 2014, and in the recovery overall, was stronger earnings growth. Average hourly wages fell 0.2 percent in December, to $24.57, the Labor Department said in its December jobs report. For the year wages rose a meager 1.7 percent -- that's down from 1.9 percent in 2013.

Following a typical recession, wage growth should reach 3 percent or higher. Weak pay hikes are keeping workers' real income only slightly ahead of inflation, damping their purchasing power. Consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of economic activity in the U.S., so an uptick in wages is vital to broader growth.

"Overall, there has been a clear acceleration in job growth since last summer, a faster decline in the unemployment rate, but few signs of faster wage growth," said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist with Capital Economics, in a note.