U.S. job openings slipped below seven million in February as labor demand slightly cooled.
The number of job vacancies declined by 358,000 to 6.882 million, from an upwardly revised 7.24 million in January, according to new data released on March 31 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Economists penciled in a reading of 6.92 million.
Last month’s decline was concentrated in accommodation and food services (211,000) and mining and logging (12,000). Vacancies in manufacturing also fell by 71,000.
Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, observed a modest drop in health care services, which fell by 51,000.
“This is important given the driving force in payrolls recently,” Roach said to The Epoch Times in a note. “Expect weakness in Friday’s non-farm payrolls for health care.”…