There Are Now More Than Five Million Job Openings in America

Unfilled positions at U.S. companies climbed in December to an almost 14-year high and hiring accelerated, underscoring a thriving labor market that points to a pickup in wage growth.

...“The fact that you have so many new jobs coming on the market shortens the time that individuals have to spend in unemployment, between jobs,” said Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP LLC in Jersey City, New Jersey. Crandall is the second-best forecaster of job openings over the last two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

One aspect “that really sticks out here is the very large number of people who found new jobs in the month,” he said. “Having the confidence to leave a job and look for another one is an important contributor to that.”