Unemployment numbers out for September, and preliminary numbers for October, indicate that the Boston Metro area continues to see improvements in hiring. The Boston-Cambridge-Quincy metropolitan area reported an increase of 46,700 new jobs. That increase placed Boston in the top five metropolitan areas for job creation during the last quarter. The additional jobs created during the last quarter helped Boston to increase overall employment by 2.1% for the year, second only to the Dallas Fort Worth, TX, area for improvement. Though the job number increases look positive for this area the number of jobs created is still too small to reduce the overall unemployment rate.  The metropolitan area employment report is released quarterly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    The Bullhorn Job Opportunity Index also released its latest figures today. The Index is designed to measure new job openings and tracks them by industry. The information is compiled from hiring managers at more than 5,000 companies. According to Bullhorn the Wholesale trade industry increased hiring by 91% reflecting holiday hires and overall growth in trade. The Information Technology sector continued its strong growth with a 54% increase in hiring over the same period a year ago. Information Technology remains strong as more companies invest in technology to align their business processes with changes in the economy. The third sector to provide increased rates of hiring was the Utilities sector which saw a 35% increase followed by the Health Care industry at 29%. The new figures show some sectors of the economy are beginning to recover slowly from the past recession and may continue to be good choices for job seekers.