Yep, the good news according to the headline of the USA Today article is that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that job openings in January were at their highest level since last February of 2009. That would be the month when the economy lost 726,000 jobs.

The numbers are going in the right direction — it’s good to see the number of job openings increase. And the number of layoffs and discharges fell to 1,890,000, the lowest level since April of 2008, a month when the economy shed 149,000 jobs. But we still have a long way to go before we are going to see healthy job growth. These numbers must be put in context.

–Dean Baker

Dean Baker is senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. He is the author of several books, including Rigged: How Globalization and the Rules of the Modern Economy Were Structured to Make the Rich Richer. Read more about Dean.