U.S. employers are taking 25 working days on average to fill vacant positions, according to one measure, a 13-year high.
by Frank Kalman
September 2, 2014
Companies are posting the highest number of job postings since 2001, but are somewhat slow to fill their vacant positions.
Employers are taking an average of 25 working days to fill vacant positions, a 13-year high, according to the Dice-DFH Vacancy Duration Measure, an index created by University of Chicago economist Steven Davis.
The vacancy lag was first reported by The Wall Street Journal Monday.
For firms with 5,000 or more workers, the vacancy-to-hire gap is even longer, at 58.1 working days. The index considers working days Monday through Saturday.
The Journal report says economist and employers cite no single cause for the slower hiring pace. The lag time could be viewed as a proxy for companies' confidence in the economy since they are posting more jobs but are reluctant to pick up the pace of brining people on. Companies posted 4.7 million job openings in June, the highest number since 2001.
Other reasons abound. For more on what might be causing the lag, read more from The Wall Street Journal here.