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US job vacancies hit a record 10.1 million

By Nagasunder in Employment News, posted August 17, 2021

According to data from the Ministry of Labor, the number of US job vacancies on the last day of the month increased by 590,000 to 10.1 million. This is higher than the record of 9.5 million job vacancies in May and much higher than economists expected. With the reopening of the economy, the company is struggling to find employees in industries such as leisure and hospitality jobs.

"The ratio of openings to hires, despite easing in June, remained at historically elevated levels," JPMorgan analyst Peter McCrory said.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the unemployment rate in the United States rose to 14.8%, but the economy has recovered strongly this year. However, despite the relaxation of restrictions, workers did not return to work as quickly as expected.

The shortage is the lack of affordable childcare services, generous unemployment and retirement benefits, and career changes related to the pandemic. Some people also believe that there are too many low-skilled jobs advertised and not enough suitable candidates.

Official unemployment figures for July indicate that the country may reverse as the number of employed people increases by 943,000. The unemployment rate also fell by 0.5 percentage points to 5.4%. However, these figures mainly appeared before the Covid Delta variant appeared in the United States, leading to increased infections and fears that further restrictions might be imposed.

New York City has stated that all customers and employees of restaurants, gyms and other indoor businesses need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

The city’s auto show, which was originally scheduled to take place from August 20 to 29, has been cancelled due to concerns about the increase in the infection rate. According to data from the Ministry of Labor, the number of voluntary quits in June increased from 3.6 million in May to 3.9 million, much higher than the pre-pandemic level.

However, a positive sign is that the number of recruits increased from 6 million last month to 6.7 million, the second-largest increase since the government started tracking data in 2000. In June, the largest increase in job vacancies was in professional and commercial services jobs, retail, and accommodation and catering services.

Some economists believe that as schools reopen in September and more states gradually cancel emergency unemployment benefits, the number of recruits will further increase. Economists are also increasingly confident that the unemployment rate in the United States will reach the level before the pandemic next year. Goldman Sachs predicts that the unemployment rate will reach 3.5% by the end of 2022.

Source: BBC