Job openings rose sharply in the first month of the year, evidence that employers are slowly ramping up hiring as the economy improves.

The number of openings nationwide in January rose about 7.6 percent, to 2.7 million, compared with December, the Labor Department said. That's the highest total since February 2009.

The report is a sign that the economy is soon likely to generate consistent job gains. Some economists expect employers to add up to a net 300,000 jobs in March, though as many as a third of them could be temporary hiring for the 2010 Census.

Hiring is critical to sustaining the economic recovery because job growth boosts incomes and helps restore the confidence needed to drive consumer spending. A gradual increase in net hiring would help prevent the recovery from fizzling.

Mark Knold, chief economist for the Utah Department of Workforce Services, cited "nascent signs of re-emerging job creation" as one of the reasons behind his optimism that the "worst of the economic downturn" is over for Utah.

In his employment summary for January, released last week, Knold also noted that the number of Utah job openings on various Internet sites has been rising for several months.

There are about 5.5 unemployed people, on average, competing for each opening. That's still far more than the 1.7 people who were competing for each opening when the recession began. But it's down from slightly more than 6 people per opening in December 2009.

Economists were encouraged by the report but cautioned that hiring will likely increase only slowly this year.

The economy has lost 8.4 million jobs since the recession began, the largest drop since the 1930s. The jobless rate was unchanged last month, at 9.7 percent. Most economists expect the rate to remain elevated for several years.

The transition to job growth "is an important step in the expansion," Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, wrote in a note to clients. "It will not change the story that this will be a subdued recovery ... but will reduce the odds of a relapse."

The gradually brightening jobs picture corresponds to what many job search Web sites are reporting. The Monster employment index, a measure of online postings by the job board Monster.com, rose 2 percent in February, compared with the previous year. That was the first year-over-year increase since December 2007, when the recession began, the company said.

Indeed.com, which aggregates job listings from thousands of online career boards and individual company sites, is also seeing improvement. The company said last week that 10 of the 12 industries it tracks posted more job openings in February than they did a year ago.

At a glance

Hiring on the rise Job openings rose by 190,000, or 7.6 percent, to 2.7 million in January, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That's the most since February 2009.

Far to go About 5.5 unemployed people, on average, are vying for each job opening, down from more than 6 in December. But that's still far above the 1.7 unemployed people per opening in December 2007, when the recession began.

Gradual improvement Many economists forecast that hiring gains will be gradual this year and won't reduce the unemployment rate very much, but may avoid a relapse.