by Steve Goldstein
Market Watch
The number of available jobs rose in January but fewer workers were willing to leave their existing positions, an indication of a labor market that’s improving but still not white hot.
Job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 5.54 million from a downwardly revised 5.28 million in December, the Labor Department said Thursday.
[…] Wholesale trade and construction were the fields with the biggest gains in openings. Educational services, state and local government and financial sectors had fewer openings.
The quits rate, however, fell to 2% from 2.2%. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen has said she views the quits rate as an important proxy for worker confidence, as willingness to leave a job usually indicates a better job is on the horizon.