Job openings fell by nearly one-quarter last year as layoffs also soared

Job openings plunged by one-quarter last year

WASHINGTON — Finding a job got much tougher last year, as the number of available openings fell by nearly one quarter.

At the same time, the unemployed population soared by more than one-third, leaving more laid-off workers competing for fewer jobs.

Labor Department data released Tuesday indicated there were 6.1 unemployed workers in December, on average, for every available position.

That’s a sharp increase from 3.4 jobless workers per opening in December of 2008, and much worse than 1.7 jobless workers per opening in December 2007, when the recession began.

The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey says there were 2.5 million jobs available at the end of December. But that’s down from 3.2 million a year earlier.