Job openings have risen to their highest level in over 13 years.
The Labor Department said Tuesday the number of unfilled positions rose to 4.67 million in June, the most since February 2001 and up from a revised 4.58 million in May.
The data are a good sign, but not quite what you’d want to see for a robust jobs market, said Tara Sinclair, an economist at Indeed.com.
“We’d like to see more dramatic changes,” Sinclair said.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has indicated that the JOLTS report is one she uses to help guide monetary policy. Significant signs of improvement, with more job openings and fewer layoffs, may mean the labor market recovery is broadening and could prompt the Fed to raise interest rates sooner.
For the past 12 months, the net gain in employment —how many more people were hired than those who were fired, or left their jobs for some other reason — is 2.4 million.