Job postings show rise in November

1/11/2011

WASHINGTON — Companies planning to ramp up hiring this year will have a flood of applicants, enabling them to keep wages low, statistics released Tuesday indicate.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that employers advertised 3.25 million jobs in November, a 39 percent increase from the number in July, 2009, a month after the recession ended, but far below the 4.4 million openings posted in December, 2007, when the downturn began.

Unemployment remains near double digits, and there are nearly five unemployed workers competing for each available job.

“It is disappointing that 17 months into the recovery, the hires rate still remained at depressed levels,” said Henry Mo, an economist at Credit Suisse.