US job openings rise moderately; layoffs increase

WASHINGTON: US job openings increased modestly in October and layoffs rose, strengthening views that the labour recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic was slowing.

Job openings, a measure of labour demand, increased to 6.65 million on the last day of October from 6.49 million the prior month, the Labor Department said on Wednesday in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS. Vacancies are below their 7 million level in February.

The job openings rate edged up to 4.5 per cent from 4.4 per cent in September. Layoffs increased 243,000 to 1.7 million. That included 91,000 layoffs in the federal government, largely due to the discharge of temporary workers hired for the 2020 Census.

The layoffs rate rose to 1.2 per cent from 1.0 per cent in September. Hiring dipped to 5.81 million from 5.89 million in September. That lowered the hiring rate to 4.1 per cent from 4.2 per cent in September.

The JOLTS report followed on the heels of news last Friday that the economy created 245,000 jobs in November, the smallest gain in non-farm payrolls since the jobs recovery started in May and the fifth straight monthly slowdown in employment growth. The economy has recouped only 12.4 million of the 22.2 million jobs lost in March and April.