US JOB openings held steady at higher levels in February, while the number of people quitting their jobs rose marginally.

Job openings, a measure of labour demand, edged up 8,000 to 8.756 million on the last day of February, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or Jolts report, on Tuesday (Apr 2).

Data for January was revised lower to show 8.748 million unfilled positions instead of the previously reported 8.863 million. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 8.74 million job openings in January. Job openings peaked at a record 12 million in March 2022.

Hiring increased 120,000 to 5.818 million. The number of workers resigning from their jobs, likely for greener pastures, increased 38,000 to 3.484 million in February.

Federal Reserve officials last month left the US central bank’s policy rate unchanged in the current 5.25 to 5.5 per cent range, having raised it by 525 basis points since March 2022.

Policymakers anticipate three rate cuts this year. Financial markets expect the first rate reduction in June.

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The Labor Department is expected to report on Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 200,000 jobs in March. The economy added 275,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate is forecast unchanged at 3.9 per cent. REUTERS