US job openings jumped to a record high in June, outpacing hiring, the latest indication that companies are having trouble finding qualified workers.
The monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released by the Labor Department underscored labour market strength that could encourage the Federal Reserve to continue tightening monetary policy.
JOLTS is one of the job market metrics on Fed Chair Janet Yellen's so-called dashboard. Economists expect the US central bank will announce a plan to start reducing its $4.2 trillion portfolio of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities at its next policy meeting in September.
Tame inflation and worries about consumer spending amidtepid wage growth and faltering motor vehicle sales, however,suggest the Fed will delay raising interest rates again untilDecember. It has increased borrowing costs twice this year.
Job openings, a measure of labour demand, increased by 461,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.2 million. That was the highest level since the data series started in December 2000 and pushed the job openings rate up two-tenths of a percentage point to a near one-year high of 4%.
The monthly increase in job openings was the largest since July 2015. The surge in job openings was broad-based.
There were 179,000 additional vacancies in the professional and business services industries. The health care and social assistance sector had 125,000 more job openings and construction companies had an additional 62,000 unfilled positions. In June, job openings were concentrated in the Midwest and West regions.
The ratio of job openings to unemployment hit a 16-year high. Hiring was little changed at 5.4 million in June, leaving the hiring rate steady at 3.7%.
