The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that there were 2.9 million job openings on the last business day of September. The number is similar to the 3.1 million openings in August, but as an article from the Bureau reminds us, "Although the month-to-month change is small, the number of job openings in September was 25 percent higher than the number at the most recent series trough in July 2009."

Although improvement has clearly been seen since that point, the 2.9 million job openings in September was still far below the 4.4 million at the beginning of the recession (as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research) in December 2007.