More than 2 million jobs openings now exist across a range of industries, in the US. There is other good economic news, too — in stocks and consumer spending:
Help wanted: pharmacists, engineers and nurses. Believe it or not, even some banks are hiring.
While the US recession has claimed 4.4 million jobs, the economy has created others, many of them for highly trained and specialized professionals. More than 2 million jobs openings now exist across a range of industries, according to government data. (Read the full AP story at MSNBC)
Investors have been clamoring for months for a bit of good news. On Thursday, they got a load of it. The Dow Jones industrials shot up 240 points, bringing its gains over the past three days to 622 points — up 8.2 percent so far for the week. (Read full report at WTOP News)
Better-than-expected retail sales figure: Retail sales in February edged down just 0.1 percent, much less than economists had expected. The government also revised January’s performance to show better than expected earnings, a 1.8 percent rise, the biggest increase in three years and stronger than the 1 percent gain that was originally reported.
There were a number of areas which showed gains ranging from department and other general merchandise stores, up 1.3 percent, to specialty clothing stores, up 2.8 percent, and furniture stores, which saw sales increase by 0.7 percent. (Read full report at WTOP News)