Job Postings Highest in More Than Two Years

Washington, DC, April 14, 2011 -- Businesses in February posted the largest number of job openings since September 2008, according to the Labor Department.

The government said Wednesday that employers advertised 3.1 million available jobs in February.

The department's report said that there were 4.4 people competing for each available job in February. That's down from nearly 7 in July 2009, but still above the approximately 2 to 1 ratio that exists in a healthy economy.

A rise in employment advertisements is the latest sign that companies are increasing hiring.

The number of jobs advertised has increased by nearly 1 million since they bottomed out in July 2009, a month after the recession ended. But they are still well below the 4.4 million openings that were advertised in December 2007, when the recession began.