Job Openings in U.S. Declined in May to Lowest Level of the Year

July 12, 2016 — 10:05 AM EDT Updated on July 12, 2016 — 10:29 AM EDT

Job openings in May dropped from a record high and hiring cooled, a Labor Department report showed Tuesday, giving a more tempered assessment of the U.S. job market following the blowout payrolls numbers reported last week.

Key Points

Number of positions waiting to be filled decreased by 345,000 to 5.5 million (forecast was for 5.65 million), the fewest this year, from 5.85 million in April

Hiring level cooled to 5.04 million from 5.09 million; the hiring rate held at 3.5 percent

Some 2.9 million Americans quit their jobs, down from 2.91 million in April and the fewest since January. The quits rate held at 2 percent -- it reached an eight-year high of 2.2 percent in December



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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-12/job-openings-in-u-s-fell-in-may-to-5-5-million-hiring-declined