| Advertisement |
July 6 (UPI) -- Job openings in the United States fell to 9.8 million in May, while new unemployment applications were on the rise last week, according to data released Thursday The Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Opening and Labor Turnover Summary, or JOLTS, showed that U.S. job openings declined by 496,000 after it had risen to 10.2 million in April.
Advertisement
The report found that job separations increased overall with quits, which can serve as a barometer for employees' willingness or ability to leave their jobs, increased by 250,000 to 4 million.
The total number of job separations sat at 5.87 million in May, an increase from 5.31 million in April but under the 6 million from the same time in 2022.
Involuntary separations such as layoffs and discharges were little changed at 1.6 million.
Education and health services had the most openings at the end of May with 1.93 million positions, followed by the trade, transportation and utilities sector with 1.67 million openings and leisure/hospitality with 1.36 million.
Meanwhile, those filing for unemployment benefits for the first time last week reached a seasonally-adjusted 248,000, 12,000 higher than the week before. Despite the increase, the total of 17,000 was off the 2023 high of 265,000 first-time unemployment files two weeks ago.
The four-week moving average for those initially filing for unemployment insurance was 253,250, a decrease of 3,500 from the week before.
The total of U.S. residents filing for unemployment benefits overall for the week ending June 24 was 1.72 million, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week. The four-week moving average for those applying for jobless insurance overall was 1,746,500, a decrease of 8,750 from the previous week's revised average.
The reports come on the same day that the ADP Employment Report said that the U.S. economy created 497 jobs in June.
