Today, Facebook and a handful of partners are launching a new Social Jobs Partnership app that allows employers to cast a line into the Facebook population, and allows prospective employees to search a directory of jobs fast approaching 2 million.

Facebook joins with the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), DirectEmployers Association, and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) in launching the initiative.

“The SJP created this app to tap into the growing trend of talent acquisition through social media…The Social Jobs App will hopefully be a valuable resource for job seekers and an additional avenue for professional exploration and connection,” says Facebook.

The app lets job hunters search by keyword, location, category and subcategory. There’s also an option to filter by “veteran-friendly” jobs.

The new SJP app launches today with over 1.7 million listings from BranchOut, DirectEmployers Association, Work4Labs, Jobvite and Monster.com.

So, why a social job app and why now? Facebook cites a NACE survey that found that half of employers are already using Facebook to scour for potential employees. Almost 90% of the companies surveyed credit Facebook with helping them reduce their reliance on print advertising for positions too.

“Nearly a year ago, the U.S. Department of Labor joined the Social Jobs Partnership to explore better ways to connect people with job information through social media. Today, we’re taking an important next step with the announcement of this valuable new application. Through the expertise of our partners and the foundation of an industry-supported open source job posting schema, the Social Jobs Partnership is helping get America back to work,” says Hilda Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor.

You can check out the new SJP app here.