Aug. 4 (UPI) — The U.S. labor market saw an increase in the number of hires in June despite a drop in the number of job openings, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday.
Some of the highest decreases were seen in the number of jobs in education and health services, which lost some 133,000 jobs, or 8% since May.
But overall, hiring increased in June by 96,000, according to the most recently available data from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
“Put together, the labor market is finding steadier footing,” Nicole Bachaud, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter, told CNN.
Experts had expected the number of available jobs to drop in June, CNN reported.
“Hires ticking up even as postings slow is the kind of detail that keeps this from reading as a market losing steam,” Bachaud added to the outlet. “Whether that holds through the summer will depend a lot on whether prices and consumer spending stabilize or keeps sliding.”
But Dan North, a senior economist with Allianz Trade, said the numbers are not strong enough to suggest a dramatic shift in the jobs market.
“The wheels are not coming off the bus — there’s certainly not negative job growth at the moment,” North told CNN.
“It’s stable, somewhat solid, but there are signs of decay and shakiness underneath,” he added.