3 Million Jobs Unfilled As Of January 2009

On the last business day of January, there were 3.0 million job openings in the United States, and the job openings rate was 2.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The job openings rate fell in January, while the hires rate (3.3 percent) and the total separations rate (3.6 percent) were essentially unchanged. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector by industry and geographic region. This release also includes annual estimates for hires and separations. The annual rate for hires, total separations, and quits decreased in 2008 while the annual layoffs and discharges rate increased.