US Economy: Job Openings Rise To Record High 10.9 Million In July

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday showed job openings rose to a record high of 10.9 million in July from nearly 10.2 million in June. The increase marks the fifth consecutive month job openings have risen as employers struggle to find workers.

CNBC noted that the current figure outpaced the FactSet estimate of 9.9 million. The current job openings also outpaced the 8.7 million unemployed who have been struggling to find work.

Yahoo Finance noted there were 4.3 million more job vacancies than hires in July, the most since 2000, along with 4 million people resigning from their positions.

The shortages in hires could be explained by a number of factors such as extended unemployment benefits, COVID-19 virus fears, and school closures. Despite the setbacks, the U.S. added 962,000 jobs in June and 1.1 million jobs in July.

The largest job increases have been in fields such as healthcare, social assistance, finance, insurance, accommodation, and food services. Total hires dipped to 6.7 million in July with fields such as retail and manufacturing seeing a hit.

Job openings compared to the total labor force increased 6.9% in July, up from 4.6% a year ago. Jobs in the Northeast rose 7% from 6.2% and job openings in the South rose by 226,000 marking an increase of 7.1% from June.