Is "Now Hiring" the new "We do our part" sign of the Depression?

Why are there "Now Hiring" signs in front of so many businesses these days when so many people are complaining about not finding a job? Everywhere I go in Knoxville, there are generic "Now Hiring" signs from the hotels to the car dealerships to the stores at the mall.

Is it just a slogan to make people feel better about the business? Are they truly hiring? Or are they just waiting for the perfect person to show up and taking applications from the rest? I find it puzzling because if businesses were really that desperate to hire, so much so that they are all putting up signs, why are so many people saying they are having trouble finding work?

During the Depression, businesses showed their compliance with New Deal programs by putting up the "Blue Eagle," with the motto "We do our part." "The eagle, which had been modeled on an Indian thunderbird, was displayed in windows and stamped on products to show a business's compliance." Consumers were encouraged to only shop at the businesses that displayed the blue Eagle logo. It seems that I remember also reading something about this in Amity Shlae's terrific book The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression where most of my (limited) knowledge of the Great Depression comes from.

Is the "Now Hiring" sign just a slogan being used to show the business "supports their community" in the current recession even though they are not really hiring? Is it a ploy to make people feel good about the business so they will shop there or is it legit, or both? Do you see these signs in your area? Any thoughts?