Report shows steady job openings, stable economy

Reprinted courtesy of TheCareerNews.com
WASHINGTON, DC — Despite economic concerns spurred by the credit crunch and sub-prime mortgage crisis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Tuesday that preliminary job openings, hiring and turnover rates in September remained relatively steady year-on-year both nationally and regionally. There were 4.1 million job openings in the U.S. Certain industries, like information, saw a decline in job openings, hires, and turnover rates, whereas others like construction saw an increase in its job openings rate.

The report comes a week after other economic indicators showed a stable economy with GDP growth at 3.9 percent, a net addition of 166,000 jobs last month (nearly twice the 85,000 jobs that experts had predicted), and an unemployment rate that remained unchanged at relatively low level of 4.7%. It also comes a week after the Federal Reserve cut the federal funds interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 percent as an attempt to prevent a downward trend in U.S. economic growth.
John Challenger, CEO of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., which reported last week that big layoffs declined in October, said that while certain economic indicators look good and the problems in credit, housing and automotive look fairly contained for now, there is still a concern it will inevitably have an affect later. “The biggest fear is that consumer spending, which is so important, could begin to slow down,” Challenger said, affecting industries like retailing. “So, this holiday season we are going to look closely at that,” he said.
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