(Bloomberg) -- US job openings rose unexpectedly in July after a sizable upward revision to the previous month, underscoring persistent tightness in the labor market as employers compete for a limited supply of workers.
The number of available positions edged up to 11.2 million in the month -- topping all estimates -- from a revised 11 million in June, the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed Tuesday.
The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for a decline to about 10.4 million.
Still-elevated vacancies and a historically low unemployment rate underscore the strength of the US jobs market. The imbalance between labor demand and supply continues to drive robust wage growth that complicates Federal Reserve efforts to tamp down inflation.
There were about two jobs for every unemployed person in July, up from 1.9 in June. Some of the largest increases in vacancies were in retail trade, and transportation, warehousing and utilities. Arts, entertainment and recreation also posted more openings from the prior month.
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