US job openings hit new record, hires on the rise

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (Reuters) – Job vacancies in the United States hit a new record in June and hiring has also increased, indicating that the supply constraints that have held back the job market remain high so even as the pace of economic recovery accelerates.

Job vacancies, a measure of labor demand, rose from 590,000 to 10.1 million on the last day of June, the Labor Department said on Monday in its monthly survey of job openings. employment and labor turnover, or JOLTS report.

Hiring also increased to 6.7 million in June from 6.0 million the previous month. The government said on Friday that job growth accelerated in July, with U.S. employers hiring the most workers in nearly a year and continuing to raise wages. Read more

Economists polled by Reuters predicted that job vacancies would rise to 9.28 million in June. Job vacancies increased in all four regions and the vacancy rate fell from 6.1% to 6.5%.

The high number of job openings was fueled by the speed at which the economy emerged from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, which upset many businesses as restrictions and fears of the virus kept people out. the House.

But the number of people re-entering the labor market has lagged behind job vacancies. Generous unemployment benefits, childcare issues and lingering worries about the virus may have all played a role, with economists generally expecting hires to increase as schools reopen and benefits unemployment in times of crisis come to an end.

The largest increases in the number of job vacancies in June were in professional and business services, retail trade, and accommodation and food services.

The increase in hiring was led by retail, with 291,000 additional positions filled, while state and local government education filled 94,000 jobs.

However, concerns remain that a resurgence in infections, driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, could again discourage some unemployed people from returning to the workforce.

The report also showed that the number of people voluntarily leaving their jobs in June rose to 3.9 million from 3.6 million in May. The quit rate is generally viewed as a barometer of labor market confidence. The number of people leaving their jobs is well above pre-pandemic levels.

Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Paul Simao

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