DEED: State job vacancies climb in 4Q of 2010

Minnesota's private sector employers say they had nearly one-third more job openings late last year than the year before.

New survey results collected by state officials show job vacancies in the last quarter of 2010 rose more than 30 percent percent.

State officials say that means there were about six unemployed people per vacancy compared to about eight people a year earlier.

But Oriane Casale, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, said employers tell the state the near term hiring outlook is not rosy.

"Unfortunately employers in Minnesota as a whole are not going to be increasing staffing levels or they're not anticipating staffing levels during the six month staffing period," Casale said.

Casale said the survey results are similar to previous ones which show that nearly two-thirds of the vacancies are in the Twin Cities, and about one-fifth are in health care and social assistance.