According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover report (JOLTS), the number of job openings in September was 3.4 million, up from the August reading of 3.1 million. Although the number of job openings is still below the pre-recession reading of 4.4 million in December 2007, there has been significant improvement since the low in 2009. The September 2011 level was 1.2 million higher than the 2009 low (set in July) and represents a 38% increase since that time.

The chart on this page shows the job opening readings for the past two years, starting in October 2009 and going through the most recent reading for September 2011.