Job openings unexpectedly climb in July to 11.2M, hovering near record high

U.S. job openings unexpectedly rose in July to a near-record high, underscoring how persistent turmoil in the labor market has made it difficult for employers to fill open positions.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that there were 11.2 million job openings in July, up from the previous month’s upwardly revised 11 million.

The number of available jobs has topped 10 million for 12 consecutive months; before the pandemic began in February 2020, the highest on record was 7.7 million.

The data precedes the release of the July jobs report on Friday morning, which is expected to show that employers hired 300,000 workers following a gain of 528,000 in June. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.5%, the lowest since the pandemic began two years ago.