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.
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