More on jobs

The jobs picture is improving: the Labor Department reported earlier this week that employers had 3.4 million job openings in December, 258,000 more than the previous month.

That follows last week’s report that the economy gained 243,000 net jobs in January, dropping the unemployment rate to 8.3 percent.

But the recovery is not as dynamic as one might hope, USA Today suggests.

Some 1.1 million workers have quit looking for jobs and 43 percent of unemployed people have been without work for more than six months — about the same as a year ago. Actual hiring in December 2011 fell to 4 million, a little less than November.

As one analyst pointed out, there is momentum on the jobs front, but in specific industries and for specific skills.

Construction firms have 1.3 jobs available for every 100 people who work in the industry. A January survey of small businesses showed that more than a third of those polled had tried to hire someone in recent months but could not find workers with the necessary skills. The service sector encountered the same problem.

Thus, a few opportunities are opening up. But the recovery is still slow.