Well there it is ladies and gentlemen, if you where looking for the silver lining in the black cloud that is our economy, this is not it. In the month of December when you would think most employers are looking to gear up for the next year, many of these companies have decided not to increase their payrolls.
It seems that in December according to the Labor Department that employers posted fewer job openings, a decline for the second straight month. Unfortunately, for those looking for a job that means that as the economy is growing, the hiring is still very weak. Employers advertised about 3.1 million jobs in December and that is a drop of about 140,000 from November.
This report from the Labor Department is just another strange mix of signals about our recovery, strong economy, yet a weak hiring environment. Unemployment falls to 9 percent for 9.4 percent, but only 36,000 new private sector jobs added.
Currently, there are many more unemployed people than there are job openings with about 14.5 million people out of work as of December. That makes 4.7 people are job competing for each job opening advertised. A healthy economy should be at about 2.0 according to economy experts. Job opportunities declined in construction, manufacturing, education and health services; however, job growth was seen in trade, utilities, retail, and transportation.
For those unlucky enough to be on the outside looking in for a job, the road just continues to be bumpy. A little less bumpy than it was a year ago, but never the less bumpy.
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