CNN 2010-03-12

We have good news and bad news on the jobs front. There are more openings out there, but also, there's a lot more competition for each one of those jobs. CNN's Christine Romans joins us live now from New York with more on this -- Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT¹: What we're seeing, Fredricka, is that in the month of January, there were employers who are starting to cautiously² hire again. The job market is hiring and firing and something called the Job Openings and Labor³ Turnover⁴ Survey shows the job openings grew 193,000 to 2.7 million in the month, but we still have an awful long way to go to get back to pre-recession⁵ levels. Really, I mean, the competition is stiff⁶ out there. So, in January there were 2.7 million available jobs. Well. In December 2007, there were 4.4 million available jobs. Today, there are 5.5 candidates for every job opening. Back before the recession, there were 1.7.

In a healthy economy, you shouldn't have to be fighting against so many other people to get a job, and Fredricka, when I report this number, that there are five or six people waiting for every job opening. I get an awful lot of e-mail from people saying it doesn't feel that way to me. It feels more like 30 or 40, so it's still tough out there for job seekers.

But where are the gains? Where are you starting to see employers at least inching in and carefully hiring? Education and health care, also hotels and restaurants. Both of these groups saw the number of hirings up about 13 percent, the number of jobs opening rather up about 13 percent in the month of January. How about the job losses? Arts, entertainment and government. No surprise there in government really, Fredricka, because so many government jobs have been added over the past couple of years. It's no surprise to see a little bit of a pull back there -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Christine Romans, thanks so much. Kinda off for a little hope there for people who are looking for a job. It's pretty depressing that the five people are fighting for that one, but I think I have to agree with you and a lot of your e-mailers. I hear from a lot of people who say it seems like ten times more than that.

ROMANS:I know. I can tell you it's moving in the right direction, but it's moving slowly, moving slowly in the right direction. That's what it is.

WHITFIELD: Okay. We got to be patient. Thanks so much, Christine.

 

1 correspondent   

n.记者，通信者；adj.符合的，一致的，相当的

参考例句：

• He volunteered as a correspondent for the war.他自愿担任作报道这次战争的记者。
• The result was correspondent with my wishes.结果与我的愿望是一致的。

2 cautiously   

adv.小心地，谨慎地；小心翼翼；翼翼

参考例句：

• She walked cautiously up the drive towards the door. 她小心翼翼地沿着车道向门口走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

5 recession   

n.（工商业的）衷退（期），萧条（期）

参考例句：

• Manufacturing fell sharply under the impact of the recession.受到经济萧条的影响，制造业急剧衰退。
• A rise in interest rates plunged Britain deeper into recession.利率的提高导致英国经济更加萧条。

6 stiff   

adj.严厉的，激烈的，硬的，僵直的，不灵活的

参考例句：

• There is a sheet of stiff cardboard in the drawer.在那个抽屉里有块硬纸板。
• You have to push on the handle to turn it,becanse it's very stiff.手柄很不灵活，你必须用力推才能转动它。