Job Openings Rise to Highest Point Since Sept. '08

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

Businesses in February posted the largest number of job openings in more than two years, evidence that hiring is picking up as the economy grows.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that employers advertised 3.1 million available jobs that month, the most since September 2008. That was the height of the financial crisis, when Lehman Brothers collapsed.