Job openings rise in January to 11-month high

By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Job openings at U.S. public and private-sector employers increased by 193,000 in January to a seasonally adjusted 2.7 million, the highest level in nearly a year, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

With 14.8 million Americans officially classified as unemployed in the month, there were 5.45 jobless people for every job opening in January, down from 6.03 in December and a record-high 6.25 in November.

Job openings increased 7.6%, the second increase in a row and the highest level since February 2009. Openings remained 2.4% lower than a year earlier, and were down by 44% compared with the peak in early 2007. Read the full release on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.

Economist Dan Greenhaus of Miller Tabak & Co. noted that growth in job openings were concentrated in the few sectors that have had the strongest net job growth in recent months: Health-care and education.

The job openings and labor turnover survey provides delayed information on the demand for labor, complementing the monthly nonfarm payroll report. In addition, the report details gross flows of people in and out of the labor market.

In January, the number of workers hired rose by 83,000 to a seasonally adjusted 4.08 million.

Meanwhile, the number of workers who left their job fell by 73,000 to 4.12 million. The number of layoffs fell by 159,000 to 1.89 million, a 21-month low. The number of people who quit their job rose by 28,000 to 1.78 million.

Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch.

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