U.S. Department of Labor building. Photo: wiki commons.

Bloomberg – Job openings in the U.S. increased in December by the most in almost a year, showing employers are gaining confidence the economy will keep growing in 2012.

The number of positions waiting to be filled climbed by 258,000, the biggest gain since February 2011, to 3.38 million, the Labor Department said today in WAshington. Excluding government agencies, openings at private employers climbed to the highest level since August 2008.

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