U.S. Job Openings Drop by 100,000 to 3.2M in May

Job openings dropped in May from the previous month and layoffs edged up, fresh evidence that U.S. employers are reluctant to add workers.

The decline in openings comes after a sharp rise the previous two months, driven by temporary government hiring for the 2010 census and more openings in the private sector.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that job openings fell to 3.2 million in May from 3.3 million in the previous month. April's upwardly revised figure was the highest in 18 months.

The department's report, known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey, illustrates how competitive the job market is. There were about 4.7 unemployed people, on average, for each job opening in May. That's down from the peak of 6.3 last November, but is much higher than the 1.8 unemployed per opening when the recession began in December 2007.

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U.S. Sheds 125K Jobs; Unemployment Drops to 9.5%

Job openings have rebounded from the depths of the recession. May's total is 37 percent above the low point of 2.3 million openings in July 2009. But it's still far below pre-recession levels of about 4.5 million.

Layoffs increased by about 100,000 to 1.9 million in May, the department said, but remain at pre-recession levels. The department said layoffs rose to a peak of 2.6 million in January 2009.

The government's job openings report echoes other recent data that shows hiring by private employers weakened in May and June, heightening concerns that the economic recovery is slowing.

Businesses added a net total of only 83,000 jobs in June and 33,000 in May, after net gains of 200,000 in March and April. The economy needs to generate at least 100,000 new jobs per month just to keep up with the rising population, and twice that level to rapidly reduce the unemployment rate, currently at 9.5 percent.

[pragmatist1]

With the Dems frenetic to pass a so-called Wall St. Reform Bill, that conspicuously doesn't include any type of reform for Fannie or Freddie, who greatly contributed to the economic downturn, no new jobs will be created and the unemployment numbers will worsen. Go on Dems, keep spending without being able to pay for your handouts. Go on Dems, trash the Wall St. types. Your actions will be remembered in 2010 and 2012. This isn't anything you can keep blaming Bush or the Repubs for, since many of your own kind led the charge in the demise of our economy.

[tsigili]

The job situation, is rapidly getting to the point of the Great Depression. That's what happens, when you waste all your time on a bad health care bill, instead of trying to create jobs, to start with.