(Bloomberg) -- US job openings rose in August to a three-month high, a development at odds with other data indicating slowing demand for workers.
Available positions increased to 8.04 million from 7.71 million in July, led by the biggest jump in construction openings since 2009 as well as increases in the state and local government sectors, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 7.69 million openings.
At the same time, the hiring rate declined to 3.3%, matching the lowest reading since 2013 excluding the onset of the pandemic in 2020. Retail trade and transportation and warehousing registered the biggest declines.
The report showed the layoffs rate also remained low, painting a mixed picture about the state of the labor market. Federal Reserve officials cut interest rates by 50 basis points at their September meeting in part to guard against a further slowdown, and have said they could authorize another half-point cut in November if weakness continues.
A separate report published Tuesday by the Institute for Supply Management showed manufacturing activity contracted in September for a sixth straight month. US stocks extended losses and Treasury yields remained lower after the releases.
Monthly BLS data on employment for September, due Friday, is expected to show the pace of hiring picked up slightly and the unemployment rate held steady last month, according to the median estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The number of vacancies per unemployed worker, a ratio the Fed watches closely, held near a three-year low at 1.1. At its peak in 2022, the ratio was 2 to 1.
The so-called quits rate, which measures the percentage of people voluntarily leaving their jobs each month, fell to 1.9%, the lowest since June 2020. That suggests people are less confident in their ability to find a new position than they were a couple years ago.
(Updates with chart and video.)
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