The Labor Department says the number of jobs advertised rose nearly 2 percent, to 3.2 million. That's the highest since April, when temporary census hiring inflated that month's figure.
Job openings at private companies rose slightly to 2.85 million, the highest in 21 months.
Even with the increases, the number of available jobs is far below the 4.4 million advertised in December 2007, when the recession began.
Private-sector layoffs, meanwhile, dropped sharply to 1.6 million in August, the lowest in more than four years.
