Job openings in the U.S. climbed to a five-year high in October, the Labor Department said Tuesday, an indication that employers were confident about demand even as Washington’s budget impasse shut down parts of the federal government.
The number of positions waiting to be filled rose by 42,000 to 3.925 million, the highest since May 2008, from a revised 3.883 million in September. The pace of hiring decreased.
Gains in the job market could drive wage growth and spur consumer spending, which accounts for almost 70 percent of the economy. Employers added 188,600 workers on average from January through November, up from an average of about 179,500 in the same period last year.
“If we can create some jobs, the incomes that will be restored will be spent on goods and services,” Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist of Northern Trust Corp. in Chicago and a former senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said before the report. “That will create better revenue and profits for businesses, that’ll generate maybe some additional hiring as they expand to meet the demand, and a virtuous cycle will really start to roll.”
The Labor Department revised the number of openings in September from a previously reported 3.91 million.
American distributors increased stockpiles in October by the most in two years, signaling that companies were gearing up for a pickup in demand, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Wholesale inventories climbed 1.4 percent, the most since October 2011, after a 0.5 percent gain in September that was larger than previously estimated.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover report is among data monitored by Janet Yellen, the nominee to succeed Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke when his term ends Jan. 31. Yellen is the current Fed vice chairman. Rates of hiring and dismissals combined with the number of people quitting their jobs are among the data Yellen has said she tracks.
Tuesday’s report showed the number of people hired fell to 4.51 million in October from 4.63 million in September. The hiring rate fell to 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent in September. The gauge calculates the number of hires during the month divided by the number of employees who worked or received pay during that period.
The number of total dismissals, which excludes retirements and those who left their job voluntarily, dropped to 1.47 million from 1.76 million in September.
Some 2.385 million people quit their jobs in October, up from 2.327 million the previous month. The quits rate, which shows the willingness of workers to leave their jobs, was at 1.7 percent in October, down from a 2.1 percent reading when the recession started almost six years ago. The rate was little changed from September.
Job openings increased in professional and business services, construction and manufacturing.
In the 12 months that ended in October, the economy created a net 2 million jobs, representing 53 million hires and 51 million separations.
Considering the 11.3 million Americans who were unemployed in October, Tuesday’s figures indicate there were almost 2.9 people vying for every opening, up from about 1.8 when the recession began in December 2007.
The Labor Department’s monthly employment report last week showed the job market continued to make progress in November. Payrolls expanded by 203,000 workers last month after a gain of 200,000 in October. The unemployment rate fell to 7 percent, a five-year low, from 7.3 percent in October.
Private employment, which excludes government agencies, rose 196,000 after a gain of 214,000 the previous month.
Doug Neeper, 61, is among those witnessing an improving job market. The financial planning and analysis consultant is a leader at the networking group Job Connections in Danville, Calif., near San Francisco. During the downturn, he said his group’s attendance grew to more than 300 people per gathering, and things have been gradually improving.
“Our meetings are averaging anywhere between 25 to 50 people, very similar to what I experienced when I joined 10 years ago,” Neeper said.
Transporters are adding jobs as Christmas retail sales shift to the Internet. Online sales are expected to increase 13 to 15 percent this season, almost three times the 4 percent projected increase for traditional retail, the National Retail Federation said in October. Online sales benefit ground and express carriers.
In November, the transportation and warehousing sector added 30,500 workers, including 8,600 couriers and messengers and 8,400 people in truck transportation.
Business, Pages 25 on 12/11/2013