Finally, some good economic news:

More companies appear ready to hire.

Job vacancies rose by 250,000 in May compared to April, according to a new analysis of online job ads by The Conference Board.

That’s the first gain since October 2008 — and the biggest since October 2006.

The news isn’t all sunny, though.

Vacancies are still down compared to previous years. And the number of unemployeed job-seekers for each vacancy has actually risen. This month, there were 4.4 times as many job seekers as open jobs, compared to 4.05 the previous month.

Tags: demand, job seekers, the Conference Board