U.S. job openings jump to record high as employers scramble for workers

FILE PHOTO: A restaurant advertising jobs looks to attract workers in Oceanside, CaliforniaWASHINGTON - U.S. job openings raced to a new record high in July while layoffs rose moderately, suggesting last month's sharp slowdown in hiring was due to employers being unable to find workers rather than weak demand for labor.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, jumped 749,000 to 10.9 million on the last day of July, the highest level since the series began in December 2000. It was the fifth straight month that job openings, which have been increasing since January, hit a record high. Hiring slipped 160,000 to 6.7 million, pulled down by decreases in retail trade, durable goods manufacturing and educational services. State and local government education hiring increased, as did federal government employment.Stocks on Wall Street were trading lower. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices were higher.The job openings to hires ratio, a measure of labor market tightness and companies' ability to find workers, rose to 1.64 in July.

But soaring COVID-19 cases, driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, could cause reluctance among some people to return to the labor force. Employment is 5.3 million jobs below its peak in February 2020. There were decreases in the number of people quitting in the transportation, warehousing, utilities and federal government categories. Though the overall quits rate was unchanged at 2.7%, the rate for the private sector - a leading indicator of wage growth - increased to 3.1% from 3.0%.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell last month affirmed the ongoing economic recovery, but offered no signal on when the U.S. central bank plans to cut its asset purchases beyond saying it could be "this year."

Cut all Covid benefits and you'll find that unemployment will no longer be an issue.

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