US employers post the most openings in four years in June

Job openings posted by US employers were at their peak in four years in June, pointing to a positive sign of acceleration in hiring.

The labour department today said job openings were up to a seasonally adjusted 3.8 million in June, up from 3.7 million in May, which was the most since July 2008. Layoffs were also down.

The data comes following Friday's report that said employers in July added the most jobs in five months. According to analysts, a rise in openings could signal better hiring in the coming months. Typically, filling a vacancy took one to three months.

Even with the increase, hiring remains competitive with 12.7 million unemployed people in June, which worked out to an average of 3.4 unemployed people for each job.

Yesterday's report, also known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, is an indication of the amount of hiring and firing that takes place in the US each month. The report is more detailed than the monthly jobs report.

For example, layoffs were down to 1.8 million in June, from nearly 2 million in May. June's total, which was below pre-recession levels, indicating that companies were not cutting more jobs even as growth continued to be sluggish.

The number of people quitting their jobs also was down slightly to 2.1 million, from 2.2 million in May, which was however, still higher than a year ago, when only 1.9 million people quit.