WASHINGTON (AP) — The pace of job openings reached the highest level on record in February, a harbinger of healthy hiring and a hopeful sign for those looking for work. The Labor Department said Tuesday that the job openings rate — which is the number of available jobs as a percentage of the employed and the open jobs, combined — rose to 4.9%, the highest since the data was first tracked in December 2000. The increase reflects a solid rise in open jobs to 7.4 million, up from 7.1 million in January and significantly above the pre-pandemic level of about 7 million. Total hires rose to 5.7 million, though that is below the figure in February 2020, just before the coronavirus intensified.
US job openings in February reached highest rate on record
