Job Openings in U.S. Skyrocket as Demand for Workers Intensifies

The Department of Labor released employment data last week making it clear the economy is on the mend.

As a matter of fact, according to the numbers, job openings in the United States made a resounding jump from May to June. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) revealed the number of open positions in the U.S. rose from 5.7 million in May to 6.2 million at the end of June���an eight percent increase in just a month.

Perhaps even more significantly is the number of those jobs that came to life in the private sector: 417,000, or a full 90 percent, versus only 44,000 from the government side.

Broken down by industry, the category of ���professional and business services��� saw the largest increase at 179,000 of the job openings reported. Next on the list is ���health care and social assistance,��� which accounted for 125,000 of the available slots, and rounding out the top three is construction, which picked up 62,000 jobs. As for where the new opportunities are, the Midwest and West regions of the country saw the greatest number of openings.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation���s economy created an additional 2.3 million jobs over the last 12 months (from the end of June). The steady growth of job openings is attributed by analysts to a flourishing economy, where shrinking unemployment ranks make it tougher to find qualified applicants for many positions.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large