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Employers advertised more jobs in September than at any other point in the past three years, a hopeful sign that companies may step up hiring.

Businesses and governments posted 3.35 million job openings, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That's a 7 percent increase from August and the most since August 2008, one month before the financial crisis intensified.

Even with the gain, there's heavy competition for each job. Nearly 14 million people were out of work in September, which means an average 4.2 unemployed workers were competing for each opening. That's slightly better than August, but it is still more than twice the 2 to 1 ratio that economists say is healthy.

Companies typically take from one to three months to fill a position. So the increase in postings suggests hiring could pick up in the coming months.

Job openings have rebounded from a decade low of 2.1 million in July 2009. Still, there were 4.4 million openings in December 2007, when the recession began.

The economy added 158,000 net jobs in September. Hiring slowed a bit in October, as employers added only 80,000 jobs, the fewest in four months. Still, the unemployment rate dipped in October to a six-month low of 9 percent, from 9.1 percent, because more people said they found jobs.

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http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9QSL1P80.htm

CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER

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