New job posts hit record 10.1M

US job openings swelled to a record-high 10.1 million in June as companies struggle to attract new employees amid a shortage of workers, the feds said Monday.

Openings are up more than 6 percent from an upwardly revised 9.5 million in May, according to the Labor Department’s monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. It’s the highest number of openings ever recorded and the first time the number has passed 10 million.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected to see 9.1 million openings for the month as they thought the labor market would round the corner of its choppy recovery in the month.

By sector, professional and business services saw the biggest rise, 227,000 new openings posted, while retail trade saw 133,000 new postings. Accommodation and food services added 121,000 postings.

The number of people who quit their jobs increased to 3.9 million in June and the quits rate increased to 2.7 percent, according to the data, while the layoffs and discharges rate was little changed.

That — plus data from last week’s jobs report that showed rising average wages — indicates an environment in which workers have increasingly more options and bargaining power.

The labor market was thrown into turmoil this spring when demand for goods and services roared back from the depths of the pandemic and many companies found themselves understaffed.

And as companies sought to hire, they had to compete for workers, many of whom appeared uninterested in taking the work that was available, largely in retail, and leisure and hospitality.

Leisure and hospitality had one of the highest levels of openings at more than 1.65 million. Only trade and transportation, professional and business services, and education and health care had more openings.