Job openings in the U.S. rose to 3.4 million on the last business day of December, up from 3.1 million a month earlier, the Labor Department reports. “Although the number of job openings remained below the 4.4 million openings when the recession began in December 2007, the number of job openings has increased 39 percent since the end of the recession in June 2009,” according to the accompanying press release.