According to the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, the U.S. reported a record 6.2 million job openings posted at the end of June 2017. 
This is clearly a good sign that employers are looking to expand their operations.
Broken out, the number of job openings reached 417,000 in June for private employers and 44,000 for government postings.
It was back in April 2015 that the first job posting record was reached, and from that point the numbers have been steadily improving.
The report points to a surging in the number of available job postings; still, filling those jobs with the right candidates represents a challenge. The hiring for those positions has remained flat, which was unchanged in June, and has been flat since late 2014.
Fast Facts in June
- Workers were slightly less likely to quit their jobs
- Workers were slightly more likely to be laid off
- The layoff rate in the U.S. has been near record low levels for several years
- Companies are still slow to hire for new jobs
- Companies are also reluctant to part with the employees they do have
The availability of job openings also differed substantially by industry
- Job openings that have grown include the education and health-services industry
- Job openings that have grown include professional and business services
- Job openings that have not kept pace were in the construction and manufacturing industries
- The manufacturing industry has about as many openings today as it did in 2007