WASHINGTON (Reuters) – US job opening grew in June, but the increase in vacancies was accompanied by an increase in workers closing their positions at hotels, restaurants and bars, probably due to fears of exposure to COVID-19 and problems with to ensure child care.
FILE PHOTO: Employers Apply for the 300 Available Positions at a New Target Retail Store in San Francisco, California August 9, 2012. REUTERS / Robert Galbraith / File Photo
Despite the increase in vacancies reported by the Department of Labor on Monday, job openings remained below their pre-pandemic level, supporting the view that it may take the labor market years to recover from the public health crisis.
“Perhaps the rise in job openings is less about adding additional workers, but re-filling positions of workers who are closing positions due to concerns about the virus, lack of childcare options, or similar reasons,” he said. Nick Bunker, Director of Research at India Hiring Lab.
“An increase in retention is usually a sign of workers’ confidence in the health of the labor market. At present, it is difficult to see that workers in the double digits feel fairly confident with unemployment. ”
Job openings, a measure of labor demand, rose 518,000 to $ 5.9 million on the last day of June, the Department of Labor said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS. Vacancies were below their 7 million level in February.
There were an additional 198,000 job openings in the accommodation and food industry. Vacancies also increased in the health care and social assistance sector. Overall, the rate for jobs opened at 4.1% from 3.9% in May.
The number of people voluntarily quitting their jobs increased from 531,000 to 2.6 million. Those who quit jobs in the health care and social assistance sector rose by 106,000, while the jump in the accommodation and food services sector was 104,000. The retail sector saw an increase of 99,000 sustained.
The quits rate, which under normal circumstances is seen by policymakers and economists as a measure of confidence in the labor market, rose to 1.9% from 1.6% in May.
KANTE JOB OPPORTUNITIES
The JOLTS report followed the news last Friday that the economy created 1,763 million jobs in July, down from a record 4,791 million in June. The economy recovered 9.3 million of the 22 million jobs lost between February and April. There were 16.3 million unemployed last month, although 31.3 million were on unemployment benefits by mid-July.
With the vacancies of June, there were three people per job opening.
“Opportunities to find work as unemployment benefits have diminished, however, remain relatively insufficient, with three unemployed workers for every job opening,” said Sarah House, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.
A supplement of $ 600 weekly per week expired at the end of July. President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an executive order to extend the supplement, though he reduced the weekly check to $ 400.
Shares on Wall Street are trading much higher. The dollar .DXY was stable against a currency exchange rate. US Treasury prices were mixed.
The JOLTS report found that hires fell by 503,000 jobs in June to 6.7 million. Hiring was still at the second highest level since the government began following the series in 2000.
This included health care and social assistance, as well as construction. It rose by 255,000 in professional and business services, and 78,000 in accommodation and food services.
Overall, the hiring rate fell to 4.9% from a full time of 5.4% in May.
“Another day, another job market statistic that just doesn’t make sense,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York. “Great, bars, restaurants and hotels want to hire 719,000 workers in June, before the pandemic shuts down the country they wanted to hire 815,000. Biggest recession in almost a century and there is no change in the rental plans of the sector for leisure and hairdressing. ‘
Report by Lucia Mutikani; Edited by Paul Simao
.
