Job openings in the U. S. surged to a record number in June.
Job openings in the U. S. surged to a record number in June, Reuters reported, and the growth in openings could not keep up with the number of people hired.
The Labor Department announced Tuesday that job openings grew 461,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.2 million, the highest in 17 years.
The Wall Street Journal noted from the Labor report that layoffs were at their lowest level since 1967. For every 10,000 people in the workforce, only 66 claimed new unemployment benefits in July.
In June, 5.4 million workers were hired, which resulted in a hiring rate of 3.7 percent. Reuters notes that the gap between job availabilities and hiring is because of a skills discrepancy.
Job openings surged across professional and business services by 179,000, CNBC reported. Health care openings grew by 125,000, and construction business openings by 62,000.
However, availabilities in educational services were down by 29,000. Other industries saw little change.
The increase in job openings happened in the Midwest and West, while the Northeast saw a dip in the number of hires that happened.
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