US job openings decline slightly in July

US job openings decreased slightly in July amid relatively stable hiring and layoffs.

Data released Wednesday by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the number of job openings fell to 7.18 million in July, down from 7.36 million in June and down from 7.5 million in the same month last year.

This coincided with an increase in hiring to 5.3 million employees, up from 5.27 million the previous month, and a decrease in layoffs to 5.29 million from 5.34 million.

The number of resignations and layoffs remained stable at 3.2 million and 1.8 million, respectively, the data showed.

Job openings declined in the health care and social assistance sectors (-181,000 jobs), arts and entertainment (-62,000 jobs), and mining and logging (-13,000 jobs).

Regarding layoffs and separations, these cases decreased in the professional and business services sector (-130,000) compared to a limited increase of 5,000 in the federal government sector.