Job Openings continued their year long decline in November.

Only 3 States show job opening increases since January 29 at the beginning of the Obama Administration.  The Best States for Jobs are Indiana, Kentucky and Idaho as they are the only states that have more job openings than at the end of January.  Yet despite these increases, unemployment continues to rise.  Indiana's unemployment rate has increased this year to 9.8% from 8.2% in January.  Kentucky has increased to 11.2% from 8.7%.  Idaho has seen its unemployment rate increase to 9.0% from 6.5% in January.  Job openings are not keeping up with job losses.The Worst States for Jobs are many.  47 states have lower job openings posted on careerbuilder.com than in January.

California Jobs have decreased the most since January with 4,764 fewer openings.  Texas has 3,138 fewer jobs and Illinois Jobs have also decreased by 2,742. 

Nationwide,  job openings have dropped 13.01% since January.  There were 204,475 job openings on careerbuilder.com at the end of November 2009 as compared to 235,059 in January.  This is an important indicator for employment direction as job openings precede employment.  Employers are not creating enough new jobs to keep up with the pace of losses.  The US had 15.7 million unemployed people in October 2009 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Many more job openings must emerge to improve the unemployment rate.

The Wall Street Journal today also ran a piece on upcoming job cuts.  It sees cuts increasing in 2010 as stimulus money is running out on certain construction infrastructure jobs.  Nationwide construction industry unemployment is now a staggering 19.1% and looks to get worse.  See Job Cuts Loom as Stimulus Fades
The stimulus program is showing few signs of progress on the job front.  Expect rising unemployment over the coming months because job openings are weak and the short term bump from the stimulus fades.  Private sector jobs are the key for long term employment improvement.  The List of Job Openings by State follows.

Job Openings by State

	State	11/30/09	1/29/09	+/-	% Change
1	California	21,091	25,855	-4,764	-18.43%
2	Texas	16,913	20,051	-3,138	-15.65%
3	Florida	13,263	15,174	-1,911	-12.59%
4	New York	11,702	13,057	-1,355	-10.38%
5	Illinois	10,960	13,702	-2,742	-20.01%
6	Pennsylvania	10,222	11,141	-919	-8.25%
7	Ohio	7,694	8,276	-582	-7.03%
8	New Jersey	7,421	8,628	-1,207	-13.99%
9	Virginia	6,385	7,186	-801	-11.15%
10	North Carolina	6,370	6,803	-433	-6.36%
11	Georgia	5,600	5,992	-392	-6.54%
12	Maryland	5,474	6,552	-1,078	-16.45%
13	Michigan	5,419	5,541	-122	-2.20%
14	Massachusetts	5,208	6,168	-960	-15.56%
15	Indiana	5,143	4,731	412	8.71%
16	Arizona	5,014	5,992	-978	-16.32%
17	Tennessee	4,214	4,413	-199	-4.51%
18	Washington	4,187	4,914	-727	-14.79%
19	Missouri	4,154	4,458	-304	-6.82%
20	Connecticut	3,895	4,531	-636	-14.04%
21	Wisconsin	3,736	4,314	-578	-13.40%
22	Minnesota	3,487	4,193	-706	-16.84%
23	Colorado	3,485	4,214	-729	-17.30%
24	Kentucky	3,005	2,763	242	8.76%
25	South Carolina	2,946	3,136	-190	-6.06%
26	Kansas	2,669	3,236	-567	-17.52%
27	Louisiana	2,643	3,494	-851	-24.36%
28	Alabama	2,132	2,567	-435	-16.95%
29	Iowa	2,028	2,499	-471	-18.85%
30	Oregon	1,770	1,832	-62	-3.38%
31	Oklahoma	1,676	2,269	-593	-26.13%
32	Nevada	1,661	1,865	-204	-10.94%
33	Mississippi	1,357	1,548	-191	-12.34%
34	New Mexico	1,242	1,423	-181	-12.72%
35	Utah	1,141	1,236	-95	-7.69%
36	Arkansas	1,121	1,414	-293	-20.72%
37	Nebraska	981	1,230	-249	-20.24%
38	Delaware	889	1,057	-168	-15.89%
39	West Virginia	754	856	-102	-11.92%
40	Idaho	739	665	74	11.13%
41	Hawaii	656	865	-209	-24.16%
42	New Hampshire	593	694	-101	-14.55%
43	Rhode Island	593	707	-114	-16.12%
44	Alaska	509	805	-296	-36.77%
45	Vermont	499	659	-160	-24.28%
46	South Dakota	452	585	-133	-22.74%
47	Maine	424	449	-25	-5.57%
48	Montana	392	508	-116	-22.83%
49	Wyoming	286	373	-87	-23.32%
50	North Dakota	280	438	-158	-36.07%
	Entire U.S.	204,475	235,059	-30,584	-13.01%
	Source:		Careerbuilder.com
			www.bestandworststates.com