The Labor Department announced 3.35 million public- and private-sector job openings for September of this year, a 7% jump from August and the highest number since August 2008, just before the recession hit full steam. The number of job openings hit a low of 2.1 million in July 2009.
According to USA Today, the economy added 158,000 net jobs for the month, although the job-creation tally decreased to 80,000 in October (October data may still be subject to an upward revision, which also occurred in August and September). Also, the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5% for the July to September quarter, the best growth since last year.