Job vacancies jumped to a fresh high of 7.6 million in January as employers continue to seek qualified applicants to fill positions, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which measures the level of employment vacancies as well as how many workers left their jobs and the reasons for the separations, has been indicating a continued swell of employment opportunities.
The January survey was expected to show 7.31 million openings against December’s 7.34 million.
The survey again showed considerably more openings against available labor, a sign of a tightening market. An earlier BLS report indicated 6.5 million Americans qualified as unemployed in January, the most recent month for which data were available.
Openings surged in government jobs, with 59,000 more available. Wholesale trade also showed a gain of 91,000, real estate and rental and leasing increased by 60,000, and information rose by 42,000. Areas seeing fewer openings were “other services” at a decline of 98,000, retail declined by 97,000 and arts entertainment and recreation was off 40,000.
The “quits rate,” or measure of workers who left their jobs voluntarily, was unchanged at 2.3 percent of the labor force, though the actual number rose to nearly 3.5 million from about 3.4 million in December.