WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Job openings at U.S. workplaces rose to 3.97 million in January from 3.91 million in December, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Tuesday. Compared with same period in the prior year, January's job openings rose 8%, as private-sector openings increased 10% to 3.61 million, and government positions fell to 369,000 from 421,000. With 10.24 million unemployed people in January, there were about 2.6 potential job seekers per opening, matching December's ratio. In January 2013, there were 12.32 million unemployed people -- about 3.3 potential seekers per opening. When the recession began in December 2007, there were less than two potential job seekers per opening. The number of separations, such as quits and layoffs, ticked down to 4.45 million in January from 4.47 million in December. Meanwhile, the total number of hires declined to 4.54 million from 4.58 million. The level of hires was almost 5 million when the recession began.