US job openings rise modestly to 8.8 million in February in strong labor market

By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job openings barely changed in February, staying at historically high levels in a sign that the American job market remains strong. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that employers posted 8.76 million job vacancies in February, up modestly from 8.75 million in January and about what economists had forecast. But the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed that layoffs ticked up to 1.7 million in February from 1.6 million in January. Monthly job openings are down from a peak of 12.2 million in March 2022 but are still at a high level. Before 2021, they’d never topped 8 million.