For the First Time Ever, America Has Enough Jobs for Everyone

For the first time in U.S. history, America has enough job openings to give every unemployed person in the country a job, according to data from the Labor Department.

There were a record 6.6 million job openings at the end of March, the Labor Department said. With unemployment down at 3.9 percent, that means there are enough jobs to employ everyone looking to work for the first time since the data began to be collected.

The Labor Department’s data is undeniably good news. An increase in job openings should coincide with a fall in unemployment, but in recent years this has not been the case since jobs opened up and yet unemployment remained stubbornly high. 

Whatever the reason for that disconnect, in recent months the normal relationship seems to have been restored. Job openings once again coincide with falling unemployment.

This is good news for workers in more ways than one, and likely means that further job creation will push wages up, which is the other missing piece of the employment puzzle in recent years!