WASHINGTON – Companies are still hesitating to increase hiring, even as more evidence emerges that the economy is slowly improving.
Employers posted fewer job vacancies in September than in August, the second month of declines, according to a report Tuesday from the Labor Department. A survey of small-business owners showed they were more optimistic, but still reluctant to add many new workers.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday that wholesale inventories rose in September for the ninth straight month. Wholesalers and distributors are likely to build their stockpiles in anticipation of higher sales.
Inventory restocking has been a crucial source of economic growth since the recession ended in June 2009. Increased orders to fill empty store and warehouse shelves have meant higher production at the nation’s factories.
The National Federation of Independent Business, a leading small-business group, said on Tuesday that its optimism index rose to 91.7, up from 89 in September. It was the highest level in five months and second-highest in more than two years, behind 92.9 in September 2008. More small businesses plan to add workers than cut them in the next three months, the group said. And the average employment change per company is zero, the group said. That figure has been negative in all but two quarters since April 2007, the federation said.
The reading “raises the odds that Main Street may contribute to private sector job growth for the first time in over a year,” the group said.
Economists welcomed the report, which has consistently shown the small-business sector struggling as large companies recover at a healthier rate.
“Perhaps, at last, the small-business sector has a pulse — albeit a faint one,” said John Ryding, an economist at RDQ Economics.
Still, overall job openings declined in September, a sign that hiring was likely to remain weak for several months.