More Jobs are Open, but Less Workers are Hired

Hey, a conundrum! 

That could be referring to a pretty good blended white wine from California labeled Conundrum.  But no.

Instead, the conundrum is why hiring has not matched job openings. 

Could it be lack of skills? 

Could that result from poor public education?  Just asking.  PB
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From the Wall Street Journal online:

A New Record for Job Openings Deepens Mystery Over Lack of Hiring

Openings climbed to 5.9 million in July while the pace of hiring was unchanged at 5.2 million

One of the labor market’s biggest mysteries just got deeper: The number of job openings available at the end of July climbed to a new record of 5.9 million.

Yet the number of people actually being hired into one of those jobs was 5.2 million for the second month in a row.

The number of unemployed workers per job opening has fallen to 1.3, the lowest since 2001.

What would normally sound like good news—abundant jobs—is tempered by the fact that people simply aren’t being hired into the positions at rates like in the past.

About 300,000 fewer people are being hired each month compared with the pace reached in February.

And during the entire economic recovery, the U.S. has yet to notch a month of hiring that matches the pace seen at the heights of the middle of last decade or the early 2000s...

Many theories have been offered to explain the gap between job openings and actual hiring.

It could be workers lack the skills for available jobs or that employers have become too picky, or that available workers and available jobs are in different geographies...
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Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/09/07/a-new-record-for-job-openings-deepens-mystery-over-lack-of-hiring/