U.S. job openings rose in May

American employers advertised more jobs in May than April, a hopeful sign after three months of weak hiring. Job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 3.6 million, the Labor Department reports this morning. That’s up from 3.4 million in April. It’s also the second-highest level in nearly four years, just behind March’s 3.7 million. Still, layoffs also increased, an indication that the job market is still struggling. A rise in openings could mean hiring will pick up in the coming months. It typically takes one to three months to fill a job. Even with the increase, the competition for jobs remains fierce. There were 12.7 million unemployed people in May, or an average of 3.5 unemployed people for each open job. In a healthy job market, the ratio is usually about 2 to 1. And hiring has slowed sharply this spring. Employers added only 80,000 jobs in June, the third straight month of weak hiring. For the second quarter, the economy added an average of only 75,000 jobs a month. That’s just one-third of the 226,000 jobs a month added in the January-March quarter. The unemployment rate remained at 8.2% in June. The slowdown in job creation has raised concerns that the economy is further weakening.