On average, 5.4 candidates vie for every U.S. job

Jobseekers today have lots of competition, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reported that there were 5.4 job seekers for every employment opening in April. That is an increase from 4.8 workers for every position in March and 1.7 workers in December 2007, the beginning of the current economic slide.

While recent labor market reports have indicated that the pace of job loss is slowing, new jobs are not yet being created, and unemployed workers are facing an increasingly uphill battle in the search for work,” said Heidi Shierholz, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute.