There were 5.0 million job openings on the last business day of January, little changed from December and in line with market forecasts.This was the highest level of job openings since January 2001. The job openings rate for January was 3.4%. The number of job openings was little changed for total private and government in January. Job openings increased for accommodation and food services and in the West region.
The number of job openings (not seasonally adjusted) increased over the 12 months ending in January for total nonfarm, total private, and government. Job openings increased over the year for many industries including professional and business services, health care and social assistance, and accommodation and food services. Job openings decreased over the year in mining and logging. The number of openings increased over the year in all four regions.
Data did not have any major impact on the markets. Euro is currently slightly below 1.0750 level, Sterling is around 1.5090 area, while Aussie is at 0.7650 level.