US job openings dip in February

(Sharecast News) - The number of job openings in the US dipped in February, as did the number of so-called 'quits'. According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms the number of job openings fell by 194,000 or 2.5% month-on-month to reach approximately 7.57m.

Hiring meanwhile edged up by 25,000 or 0.5% over the month to reach about 5.4m.

So-called voluntary separations, or quits, dropped by 61,000, amount equivalent to a 1.9% drop from the month before to roughly 3.195m.

Commenting on the latest figures, Nancy Van den Houten at Oxford Economics said: "Layoffs ticked higher but are low enough to prevent a significant rise in the unemployment rate.

"The JOLTS data on federal government workers was mixed. Job openings and hiring held steady, while layoffs increased 18,000. We expect the pace of federal layoffs to accelerate in the months ahead."