United States job openings declined in June, driven by a sharp drop in vacancies across the healthcare and social assistance sector, while stronger hiring and steady layoffs pointed to a labour market that remained resilient.
The number of available positions, a key measure of labour demand, fell by 178,000 to 7.359 million at the end of June, according to the Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released on Tuesday.
Economists had expected 7.4 million job openings during the month.
Job openings increased in transportation, warehousing and utilities, rising by 97,000, while federal government vacancies climbed by 39,000.
Offsetting those gains, openings declined by 74,000 in wholesale trade, 55,000 in non-durable goods manufacturing and 9,000 in mining and logging.
The healthcare and social assistance sector recorded the largest decline, with job openings falling by 147,000.
The report comes after the U.S. Federal Reserve last week left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%, although three policymakers dissented in favour of a 25-basis-point rate increase.
The job openings rate eased to 4.4% in June from 4.5% in May.
Hiring increased by 96,000 to 5.348 million during the month, lifting the hires rate to 3.4% from 3.3% in May.
Meanwhile, layoffs and discharges were little changed at 1.766 million, with the layoffs rate holding steady at 1.1%.
Economists expect the U.S. economy to have added 80,000 non-farm payrolls in July following a gain of 57,000 in June. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the July employment report on Friday.
The unemployment rate is forecast to remain unchanged at 4.2%, although there is a risk it could edge higher after a Conference Board survey showed the share of consumers who viewed jobs as "plentiful" fell in July to its lowest level since February 2021.
