US job openings modestly rise in December

The job openings in the United States increased modestly in December, signaling that raging coronavirus pandemic caused companies cutting back on hiring, but offering cautious optimism that job growth could regain speed, as vaccination started.

The report from Labor Department’s Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed that job opening, a measure of labor demand, rose 74,000 to 6.65 million in December from 6.576 million previous month.

The job opening rate rose to 4.5% in December from 4.4% previous month, while layoffs decreased to 1.8 million and the layoffs rate declined to 1.3% from 1.4% in November.

Hiring dropped to 5.54 million in December, with the highest decrease seen in the services sector, followed by transportation, warehousing and utilities sector and arts, entertainment and recreation industry

Analysts see the slowdown in employment in December more as a result of employers being hesitant about adding new workers, due to rising virus cases and fresh restrictions, than a pick-up in layoffs.

Government’s jobs report for January showed increase in creating new jobs after sharp fall in December, signaling that labor market is slowly recovering after stalling previous month amid a resurgence of Covid-19 infections.