Private-sector hiring and job openings fall in August

Hiring and job openings in the private sector fell in August in a sign the U.S. labor market was cooling off as an economic recovery lost some of its earlier momentum, a government survey showed.

Businesses, governments and other organizations hired 5.9 million people in August, according to a Labor Department survey of the labor market that’s released with a one-month delay.

The number of people hired was basically unchanged from July, but the total was inflated by the addition of nearly 250,000 temporary workers hired by the U.S. Census for its once-in-a-decade national survey. Hiring in the private sector declined.

Job openings also slipped to 6.49 million from 6.7 million. The number of jobs available was running around 7 million a month before the coronavirus struck in March.

The number of separations — layoffs, firings, people quitting — fell to 4.59 million in August from 4.99 million in July.

At the peak of the pandemic in March and April, the U.S. lost more than 24 million jobs. So far it’s only recovered about half of them back.

Hiring increased the most in August in government and manufacturing (+41,000).

Yet hotels, restaurants and health-care providers — industries hard hit by the pandemic — hired far fewer people in August than they did in July.

Job openings declined in most industries across the country.

The share of people who left jobs on their own, known as the quits rate, fell to 2.2% from 2.4% among private-sector employees. It’s a full percentage point lower compared to a year ago; fewer people are willing quit a secure job during a recession.