WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Labor said there were 2.7 million job openings on the last business day of January, putting the job opening rate at 2.1 percent.
The rate has not been as high since February 2009, the department said. In December, the rate stood at 2 percent, one tick higher than November's 1.9 percent.
In the private sector there were 2.3 million job openings at the end of the month. The highest number was in education and healthcare, where there were 617,000 openings with a job opening rate of 3.1 percent.
In trade, transportation and utilities, there were 385,000 job openings with a job opening rate of 1.5 percent. In the professional and business services category, the job opening rate was 2.5 percent with 432,000 openings.
For the Northeast the rate was 1.9 percent, while in the South the rate was 2 percent. In the Midwest it was 1.8 percent. In the West the rate was 2 percent.
The job openings rate is the number of job openings as a percent of total employment plus job openings.
