Number of US job openings rises to 9.6 mn on last biz day of Aug: BLS

This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total non-farm sector, by industry, and by establishment size class.

On the last business day of August, the number and rate of job openings increased to 9.6 million  (a rise of 690,000) and 5.8 per cent respectively.

Over the month, job openings increased in professional and business services (a rise of 509,000), finance and insurance (a rise of 96,000), state and local government education (a rise of 76,000), non-durable goods manufacturing (a rise of 59,000) and federal government (a rise of 31,000).

In August, the number of hires changed little at 5.9 million and the rate was unchanged at 3.7 per cent. The number of hires changed little in all industries, said a BLS release.

Total separations include quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Quits are generally  voluntary separations initiated by the employee. The quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. Other separations include separations due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.

The number of total separations in August was little changed at 5.7 million, and the rate was unchanged at 3.6 per cent. The number of quits changed little in the month at 3.6 million, and the rate was unchanged at 2.3 per cent.

The number of layoffs and discharges in the month changed little at 1.7 million, and the rate held at 1.1 per cent. The number of other separations was little changed in August at 357,000.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)