U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in August as the American labor market continued to show resilience, the Associated Press reports.
The Labor Department reported today that employers posted 8 million vacancies in August, up from 7.7 million in July. Economists had expected openings to be virtually unchanged. Openings were up in construction and in state and local government.
Layoffs fell in August, but the number of Americans quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in their job prospects — slid to the lowest level since August 2020 when the economy was reeling from COVID-19 lockdowns.
When the Labor Department releases its jobs report for September on Friday, it is expected to show that employers added 143,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate remained at a low 4.2%, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.
