Feb. Job Postings Rise 7.7 Percent, Reach ’08 Levels

U.S. employers posted more job openings in February, a sign that hiring will likely improve in the months ahead.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that employers advertised 4.2 million job openings, up 7.7 percent from January. That’s the highest number of postings since January 2008, when the Great Recession was just beginning and the economy had yet to suffer the full shock of the downturn.

There are roughly 2.5 unemployed Americans for each open job, the report shows. That average has slowly been approaching the 2-1 ratio that is typical of healthier economies, after peaking at 6.7 unemployed people for each available job in July 2009, just after the recession ended.

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