WASHINGTON – Companies posted more open jobs in January while layoffs decreased as the economy heals slowly from the pandemic.
There were 6.9 million jobs available on the last day in January, up from 6.7 million in December, the Labor Department said Thursday.
That suggests employers are getting ready to hire in the coming months. Hiring actually began to pick up in February, according to last Friday's jobs report, which showed that employers added 379,000 jobs, the most since October, while the unemployment rate fell to 6.2%, from 6.3%.
While the economy still has 9.5 million fewer jobs than before the pandemic, February's job gain was much higher than January's and came after a sharp job loss in December, suggesting the economy, after