JOB TRENDS: In one good sign for the labour market, some companies are posting more ads seeking employees.

A website that aggregates online job ads across 12 major industries said help-wanted postings grew in January in half the fields it tracks, compared with a year ago.

Indeed.com began keeping records on job postings one year ago. January's gains were the strongest yet.

The company said the six industries with more job postings last month than in January 2009 were:

— hospitality, up 45 percent

— education, up 22 percent

— retail, up 16 percent

— real estate, up 14 percent

— manufacturing, up 4 percent

— media and newspapers, up four percent

The construction industry had 19 percent fewer job postings in January as the housing market continues to suffer. Accounting job listings dropped eight percent, information technology by five percent, financial services by four percent, and the healthcare and tranportation sectors both had three percent fewer job listings than they did in the prior-year period.

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SMALL-BIZ OWNERS REMAIN WARY: Small-business owners are slightly more confident that sales will improve, but they remain hesitant to bring on new workers or spend more on company improvements.

Firms with fewer than 500 staffers employ about half of America's non-government workers, according to the Small Business Administration. How confident they feel about the economic recovery is crucial to forecasting American job growth.

The companies polled in January were slightly more pessimistic than they were during the fourth quarter. The Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index came in at -16 compared with -15 at the end of last year. But the measurement of future expectations rose to 13 from 9. A score of zero suggests small business owners are neutral about their companies; a positive score indicates optimism.