Some places post signs of life in the labor market, while others continue the payroll massacre.

Look – some signs of life in the job market!

Turns out there are about 400,000 more open employment positions than we did a year ago. Meaning that in all, there are about 2.8 million jobs available right now in the US.

That’s nice, assuming you’re in business and professional services, the industries offering the most opportunities. Construction and manufacturing operations, meanwhile, continue their cuts, but this time the category called arts & entertainment follows along, with 18,000 fewer job openings – probably would have been 18,001 if Aston Kutcher didn’t fill Charlie Sheen’s role — than it had posted this time last year.