Good jobs news lost in morass

LAST Tuesday, there was more breaking news than I can remember in a long time — which overshadowed a great jobs report that could provide a brighter future for every American.

Lost in the barrage of tawdry news — from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s resignation to the latest Stormy Daniels bulletin — was an absolutely terrific Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The report said there are 6.6 million job openings — the highest number of openings ever recorded — and far more positions than there are Americans on unemployment.

Having a job is very important and often central in one’s life, but most Americans might never know that there are now all of those job openings in the US, since it was lost in the frenzy of the news cycle.

Interestingly, May is Small Business Month, and there are few jobs more stressful than being a small business owner.

Meeting payroll, keeping up with insurance and tax laws and managing employees is hard work unto itself, let alone the added burden of attempting to expand the business.

So small business owners — who one minute may be on the phone with their biggest customer arranging a business-saving order and the next dealing with an internet provider because the service is down — have a lot on their plates, and it takes quite a lot of facts and data to turn this cynical, edgy lot into optimists.

But the National Federation of Independent Business’ Small Business Optimism Index has been skyrocketing into all-time high territory, driven by reports of improved small business profits. So it is no wonder the job market is on the upswing, since a majority of those job openings are posted by small businesses.

Now seems to be a good time to turn off the TV — this “Storm” will pass — and dust off the résumé, since there are now more than 6 million job openings.

And that’s just the kind of JOLT this economy — and the workers — could use.