Share
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers advertised slightly fewer jobs in August as hiring ticked up modestly.
The number of U.S. job postings on the last business day of August dipped to 6.49 million, down from 6.7 million in July, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Those postings are off more than a half million compared with last year at this time, when employers advertised 7.17 million job openings.
Hiring in August edged up to 5.92 million, slightly above the 5.90 million job applicants hired the previous month.
The government reported last Friday that the U.S. economy generated 661,000 jobs in September. It was the third consecutive month of slower hiring after an initial burst as the U.S. emerging from virus-related lockdowns in the spring.
The unemployment rate in September fell to 7.9%, down from 8.4% in August and a high of 14.7% in April. Before the pandemic hit, unemployment was at a 50-year low of 3.5% in February.
The Number of People Voluntarily Leaving Their Jobs Had Been Viewed as a Signal About How Comfortable People Are in Leaving a Job to Find a Better One
In August, 2.79 million workers quit their jobs, down from 2.93 million in July figure.
The number of people voluntarily leaving their jobs had been viewed as a signal about how comfortable people are in leaving a job to find a better one, but it may suggest something else now. With the job market still weak, economists believe some people are quitting to avoid becoming infected with COVID-19, or to take care of children who can’t go back to school due to related lockdowns.
“More people quitting their jobs used to be seen as a sign of confidence in the economy that there was plenty of work out there, but this recession seems to have confused the meaning of this,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG, a global financial group. “There are not nearly enough openings around to take up the Americans without paychecks this recession.”
So far, the economy has gained back about half of the 22 million jobs lost in March and April.
RELATED TOPICS:
Dear Mayor and City Council, Fresno’s Housing Bottlenecks Are a Modern Form of Redlining
1 hour ago
Iran Enacts Law Suspending Cooperation With UN Nuclear Watchdog
1 hour ago
Trump Vowed to Dismantle MS-13. His Deal With Bukele Threatens That Effort.
2 hours ago
Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Logan Ryan Martin
2 hours ago
Poll: Most Americans Say National Divide, Political Violence Threaten Democracy
2 hours ago
Meta’s Instagram Down for Thousands of Users in US, Downdetector Shows
2 hours ago

From Victims to Perpetrators: Israeli Soldiers’ Nazi Comparisons and the Unfolding War Crimes in Gaza

Downtown Housing Could Rise in Many California Cities, but Barriers Remain

Dear Mayor and City Council, Fresno’s Housing Bottlenecks Are a Modern Form of Redlining

Iran Enacts Law Suspending Cooperation With UN Nuclear Watchdog

Trump Vowed to Dismantle MS-13. His Deal With Bukele Threatens That Effort.
