U.S. Job Openings Unexpectedly Edge Higher In August

(RTTNews) - Job openings in the U.S. unexpectedly saw a modest increase in the month of August, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Tuesday.

The Labor Department said jobs openings rose to 8.04 million in August from an upwardly revised 7.71 million in July.

Economists had expected job openings to come in unchanged compared to the 7.67 million originally reported for the previous month.

The report said hires and total separations were both little changed over the month at 5.3 million and 5.0 million, respectively.

Within separations, quits continued to trend down, falling to 3.1 million, while layoffs and discharges were little changed at 1.6 million.