U.S. job openings dipped in August from July

Employers across America advertised slightly fewer jobs in August than July, while they filled the most positions in three months, offering a mixed signal on the job market. The Labor Department reports this morning that job openings dropped by 32,000 to 3.56 million in August. In addition, July’s openings were revised downward. In a positive sign, however, employers hired 4.39 million people in August—the most since May. The number of available jobs has jumped about 63% since the recession ended three years ago. It remains well below the more than 4 million jobs per month advertised before the recession. The job market remains very competitive. With 12.5 million people unemployed in August, there were 3.5 unemployed people, on average, competing for each open job. In a healthy economy, that ratio is 2 to 1. On Friday, the government reported unemployment fell to 7.8% last month from 8.1% in August. However, hiring must be stronger to bring relief to the many who are unemployed and seeking jobs. Roughly 100,000 new jobs are needed each month to keep up with the working-age population.