U.S. job openings rose again in July, but hiring lagged as economic recovery slowed

[TomCADem]

Source: Marketwatch

Companies hired fewer people in July during a fresh wave of coronavirus cases even as they listed more open jobs, reflecting a high level of uncertainty about how rapidly the labor market and broader economy are improving.

Businesses, governments and other organizations hired 5.8 million people in July, according to a Labor Department survey of the labor market that’s released with a one-month delay. But that marks a sizable decline from almost 7 million in June.

Job openings, on the other hand, rose by 617,000 to 6.6 million in July. The number of jobs available was running around 7 million a month before the pandemic. The number of separations — layoffs, firings, people quitting — barely changed in July at 5 million.

At the peak of the pandemic in March and April, the U.S. lost more than 24 million jobs. So far it’s only recovered about half of them back.

Read more: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-job-openings-rose-again-in-july-but-hiring-lagged-as-economic-recovery-slowed-2020-09-09

[progree]

1. Unemployment insurance initial claims 884,000, continuing claims all programs: 29.6 M, up 0.4 M

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS, Department of Labor, 9/10/20
https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf

In the week ending September 5, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 884,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 881,000 to 884,000. The 4-week moving average was 970,750, a decrease of 21,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 991,750 to 992,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 9.2 percent for the week ending August 29, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 29 was 13,385,000, an increase of 93,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up 38,000 from 13,254,000 to 13,292,000. The 4-week moving average was 13,982,000, a decrease of 523,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 9,500 from 14,496,250 to 14,505,750.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending August 22 was 29,605,064, an increase of 380,379 from the previous week. There were 1,591,456 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2019.