Employers appear to be beginning to hire once again.  More employers announced plans to hire more people in 

the first nine months of 2009 than in the first three quarters of 2008; an increase of 88%. 

The retail industry led all sectors with their plans to hire.  Retailers announced plans to hire 33,640 workers through September of this year compared to 4,000 in all of 2008. So far though retailers have only hired 95,000 people through September.

The second largest sector for hiring was government and non-profit organizations with plans to add 28.469 workers.  Entertainment and leisure was the third industry hiring with an expected job growth of 22,370.

The job market is still tough with only 2.4 million job openings nationwide – down from 3.9 million a year ago.  But in August 4 million people were hired.