WASHINGTON — U.S. employers advertised slightly fewer jobs in August than July, while they filled the most positions in three months, offering a mixed signal on the job market.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that job openings dropped by 32,000 to 3.56 million in August. July’s openings also were revised lower.
The job market remains very competitive. With 12.5 million people unemployed in August, there were 3.5 unemployed people, on average, competing for each open job. In a healthy economy, that ratio is 2 to 1.
Companies have been filling jobs slowly since the recession ended and often only when absolutely necessary. Total monthly hiring has increased just 15 percent since the recession ended three years ago, even though job openings have risen nearly 63 percent in that same time.
The August report did offer some encouraging signs that the trend could change. Employers hired a total of 4.39 million people in August — the most since May.
And Wednesday’s report on job openings and labor turnover followed a positive report on net hiring in September. That showed the national unemployment rate fell below 8 percent for the first time in 3 1/2 years.
Even with the gains, the job market remains weak and the unemployment rate is still high at 7.8 percent.
Economists note several reasons why hiring hasn’t kept pace with the increase in job openings.
Applicants are passing on jobs when companies offer lower pay. Some employers are seeing fewer applicants with needed skills in key in- dustries, such as manufacturing and information technology. Businesses are also worried about slower global growth and possible recession in the United States next year if Congress stays deadlocked on pending tax increases and spending cuts.
Roy Sweatman, president of Tampa, Fla.-based Southern Manufacturing Technologies Inc., said it’s “almost impossible” to find skilled machinists to run the computer-assisted equipment in his factories. Southern Manufacturing makes precision components for the aerospace and defense industries.
The company is also worried about big cuts in defense spending, among those set to take place next year if lawmakers can’t reach a deal.
There are eight job openings at the 110-person company. They are being filled only when absolutely necessary.
“We are looking for folks now, but we are doing it with a bit of trepidation,” he said. “I would hate to hire them and then have to let them go next year.”
Hiring has improved from the spring. From July through September, employers added an average of 146,000 a month. That’s more than double the average monthly job growth during the previous three months.
Even with the gains, hiring must be stronger to bring relief to the unemployed. Roughly 100,000 new jobs are needed each month to keep up with the working-age population.
The economy is growing too slowly to create more jobs. The economy expanded at an annual rate of 1.3 percent pace in the April-June quarter, down from 2 percent in the first three months of the year. Most economists expect growth to remain at a sluggish pace of around 2 percent for the rest of the year.
In a sepa rate re port Wednesday, the Commerce Department reported that inventories at U.S. wholesalers rose in August at a slower pace as sales advanced from the previous month.
The 0.5 percent increase in stockpiles followed a revised 0.6 percent rise in July. Sales increased 0.9 percent from a 0.2 percent drop the previous month.
Companies are tempering stockpiles as the impasse over U.S. fiscal policy clouds the outlook for demand through the end of the year, showing inventories may contribute less to economic growth. Wholesalers had goods on hand to last 1.20 months at the current sales pace.
“Business is usually pretty good about bringing inventories back in line pretty quickly” after an “involuntary buildup” in the past few months, said Ryan Wang, an economist at HSBC Securities USA Inc. in New York. “Slower inventory accumulation is another reason why growth will probably stay pretty modest in the second half of the year.”
Information for this article was contributed by Michelle Jamrisko of Bloomberg News.
Business, Pages 25 on 10/11/2012