JOLTS: May U.S. job openings unexpectedly rose to 8.14 million

July 2 (UPI) — The U.S. economy continued to show resilience with the Labor Department statistics released Tuesday showing that the job openings grew, beating Wall Street estimates.

The Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey revealed that there were 8.14 million job openings in May, up from a revised 7.81 million in April. Forecasters on FactSet consensus predicted that job openings would land at 7.91 million in May.

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The number of hires stayed steady in May at 5.8 million along with the number separations at 5.4 million.

“The report was another sign that the labor market is holding firm,” Robert Frick, corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union said, according to CNN. “So far there are no indications that job growth will flag this year, so consumer spending power will continue to increase and the expansion looks solid.”

Job openings increased during May in state and government, excluding education, at 117,000, another 97,000 openings in durable goods manufacturing and 37,000 in the federal government.

The report said the job openings decreased by 147,000 in accommodation and food services and another 34,000 in private educational services.

The positive job openings report comes nearly after the Employment Situation Summary that showed a 272,000 increase in jobs created in May, beating Dow Jones estimates.