The BLS JOLTS report, or Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey describes the pathetic job market. Once again, little has changed and the July 2012 statistics show there were 3.49 official unemployed persons for every position available^*. There were 3.664 million job openings for July 2012, a 1.56% decrease from the previous month of 3,722,000. Openings are still way below pre-recession levels of 4.7 million. Job openings have increased 68% from their July 2009 Mariana Trench trough, yet real hiring is a distant memory. There were 1.8 persons per job opening at the start of the recession, December 2007. The job market is horrific and worse than last month. Below is the graph of July official unemployed, 12.794 million, per job opening.

The BLS JOLTS, or Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey reports the never ceasing abysmal jobs market. The June 2012 statistics show there were 3.39 official unemployed persons for every position available^*. There were 3,762,000 job openings for June 2012, a 2.87% increase from the previous month of 3,657,000. Openings are still way below pre-recession levels of 4.7 million. Job openings have increased 72% from their July 2009 trough, yet opportunities are miles away from the 1.8 persons per job opening ratio at the start of the recession, December 2007. There are some in the press who focus on levels, to make the job market seem better than it is. Not so, it's still horrific. Below is the graph of June official unemployed, 12.749 million, per job opening.

The BLS JOLTS, or Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey reports a dismal and pathetic jobs market. The April 2012 statistics show there were 3.66 official unemployed persons for every position available^*. There were 3,416,000 job openings for April 2012, a -8.69% change from the previous month of 3,741,000. Openings are still way below pre-recession levels of 4.7 million. Job openings have increased 56% from their July 2009 trough, yet opportunities are miles away from the 1.8 persons per job opening ratio at the start of the recession, December 2007. Below is the graph of April official unemployed, 12.5 million, per job opening.

If one takes the official broader definition of unemployment, or U-6, the ratio becomes 6.65^** unemployed people per each job opening for February. The April U-6 unemployment rate was 14.5%. Below is the graph of number of unemployed, using the broader U-6 unemployment definition, per job opening.

JOLTS stands for Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The February 2012 statistics show there were 3.66 official unemployed people hunting for a job to every position available^*. There were 3,498,000 job openings for February 2012, an increase of 0.6%, from the previous month of 3,477,000. This is no change from January 2012 in actual job openings. Job openings have increased 60% from their July 2009 trough. Yet opportunities are still way below the 1.8 persons per job opening at the start of the recession, December 2007. Below is the graph of February official unemployed, 12.806 million, per job opening.