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The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported there were 4.8 million job openings nationwide on the last business day in August, which was the highest level of job openings since January 2001. The number of job openings for August is an increase from 4.6 million openings on the last day of July, according to the BLS. Industries that experienced the most monthly gains in job openings were nondurable goods manufacturing, healthcare, social assistance, accommodation, and food service, while there were declines in the number of state and local government job openings.
The number of separations, which include quits, layoffs, discharges, and other separations, totaled 4.4 million for August. Overall, BLS reported a 2.5 percent net employment gain for August, with hires totaling 56.2 million for the 12-month period ending in August 2014 and separations totaling 53.6 million for that same 12-month period. Those numbers may include workers who were hired and/or separated more than once during that period.
Two major investors have shored up their stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after a judge dismissed two lawsuits regarding the sweeping of GSE profits into the U.S. Department of Treasury, causing the price of GSE stock to plummet. William A. Ackman, head of Pershing Square, and Bruce Berkowitz, head of Fairholme Capital, have both added to their respective stakes in the two GSEs. On September 29, a judge threw out lawsuits filed by Fairholme and Perry Capital against the government claiming that the sweeping of GSE profits into Treasury was illegal. The judge ruled the sweeping of the profits was legal under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act.
