U.S. Job Openings Surge To Record High
Thursday, September 8th, 2016 -- 8:43 AM
U.S. job openings surged to a record high in July, but a lag in hiring suggested employers were struggling to find qualified workers to fill the positions.The Reuters reports says the monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, released by the Labor Department on Wednesday also pointed to tightening conditions in the labor market, which could spur faster wage growth.
JOLTS was published ahead of the U.S. central bank's Sept. 20-21 policy meeting at which the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, increased 228,000 to a seasonally adjusted 5.9 million, the Labor Department said. That was the highest level since the series started in December 2000 and pushed the jobs openings rate up one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.9 percent in July.
Job openings were almost across the board. There were big increases in construction, retail, leisure and hospitality, as well as professional and business services.
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