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Not Doing ‘Fine’: U.S. Sees Fewest Job Postings in 5 Months

Jun. 20, 2012 9:35pm Becket Adams

WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — Employers in April posted the fewest job openings in five months, according to official Labor Department figures.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that job openings fell to a seasonally adjusted 3.4 million in April, down from 3.7 million in March. The March figure was the highest in nearly four years.

The decline could mean employers are growing more cautious about adding workers in the face of financial turmoil in Europe and slower growth in the United States. Job openings can take one to three months to fill.

There were 12.5 million unemployed people in April. That means there was an average of 3.7 people competing for each open job. In a healthy job market, the ratio is usually around 2 to 1.

Openings are still below pre-recession levels of about 5 million per month.

April’s decline in openings has coincided with a sharp slowdown in hiring. Employers added an average of only 73,000 jobs in April and May. That’s down from an average of 226,000 in the first three months of this year.

The drop in openings was concentrated in the private sector, and was particularly steep in professional and business services. Available jobs fell 14 percent in that category, which includes high-paying jobs such as engineers, architects and accountants, as well as lower-paying temporary jobs.

Job openings also dropped in manufacturing, retail, and education and health services.

Fewer people quit their jobs last month , but that’s not necessarily a good thing either as more quits are evidence that workers are confident that they can find new jobs elsewhere.

Employers hired 4.18 million people in April, 160,000 fewer than the previous month. The Labor Department’s report measures gross job gains, while the monthly jobs reports are net figures that are calculated after subtracting layoffs and quits.

Nearly 4.1 million people were laid off, quit or retired in April. When that number is subtracted from the gross hiring figure, the total is close to the 77,000 net job gains in April reported earlier this month by the Labor Department.

Companies are posting more job openings but aren’t necessarily filling them. Openings have increased by 13 percent in the past year, while gross hiring has increased only 4 percent.

But you know what would really turn this around? More public sector jobs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Comments (16)

keep456ty
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 10:21am
List Of Failed Green Energy Jobs – By Obama

Solar Trust of America: FAIL
Bright Source: FAIL
Solyndra: FAIL
LSP Energy: FAIL
Energy Conversion Devices: FAIL
Abound Solar: FAIL
SunPower: FAIL
Beacon Power: FAIL
Ecotality: FAIL
A123 Solar: FAIL
UniSolar: FAIL
Azure Dynamics: FAIL
Evergreen Solar: FAIL
Ener1: FAIL

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gsp9993
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 5:45am
You don’t learn business, finance or economics in the faculty lounge.

Barry has no ideas what a debit or credit is and couldn’t read a financial statement if it came right up and bit him in the ass.

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JACKTHETOAD
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 4:09am
The name Larry Fine comes to mind…And I’ll bet he hates stooges like that.

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PRESIDENT_OBAMNEY
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 1:36am
Are Romney and Obama the same on most issues? Try, ALL ISSUES!!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ljzKR9mePiY

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trueamerican40
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 1:27am
And I should know. I have been unemployed and taking the heat of it for 6 months now. This country sucks! Will work for food!

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Gypsy123
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 1:19am
Steve Urkel DID I DO THAT???????

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moonlight on the bay
Posted on June 21, 2012 at 12:31am
This reminds me of the ad on tv where Obama says “The Private Sector is Doing Fine”. After the first time he says it, a black screen comes up with “The Private Sector is Doing Fine?” In my imagination, (or an SNL parody), instead of those words — on the black screen it just says “WTF???” The second time he says it, the black screen could have, “Really, Dude?”

Now I know he backtracked later that same day I believe, so although I am no fan, I gotta be fair and point out that he DID correct himself on that statement.

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GrumpyCat
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 10:36pm
But TheBlaze fails to understand that one definition of “fine” is “small.” :-)

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- marcus_arealius
  Posted on June 21, 2012 at 1:47am
  Yes, perhaps the chief idiot had his Look-it-up-word Czar lookup a word for ‘minute’ (my-noot) or ‘very thin’ and they said ‘fine’. So the chief idiot said ”Yeah, just like the joints I used to roll in college.. and still do’.. Cheap bastard.
  
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v15
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 10:30pm
Anyone have a law firm that is hiring law clerks and paralegals? My bachelor’s degree and work experience is in accounting but I’m wanting to make a transition into law. I am studying for the LSAT because I most definitely want to get into a law school. But in the meantime, is there anyone that needs a legal/research assistant (or anything) to get my foot into the door? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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- rickc34
  Posted on June 20, 2012 at 10:45pm
  Stay out of politics..
  
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- v15
  Posted on June 21, 2012 at 1:54am
  No worries. I don’t want to get into politics; rather, I would prefer to stay in the private sector and fight against government regulation, tax, bankruptcy, etc…or perhaps environmental law to fight against the EPA. I think I would prefer living jobless and homeless than working for the state and federal government.s
  
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LetsBeSmartAboutThis
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 10:29pm
Mr. Out Of Touch.

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kat747
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 9:57pm
The employers are waiting to find out how much the new ObamaCrap medical insurance bill is going to cost them.
How is that “hope and change” thing working for you liberals and union people so far ?

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- rickc34
  Posted on June 20, 2012 at 10:47pm
  Most employers will take the fine so employee’s will be responsable for their own healthcare.
  
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SHOWMESTATEGUY
Posted on June 20, 2012 at 9:49pm
Damit we are too doing fine!!!! Ask any of the dem libs reporting on MSNBC. Well, not just msnbc, include all dem lib news outlets.

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