(CN) — Employers advertised 6.6 million open jobs in March -- a record in a category the Labor Department has been tracking since December 2000.
According to the government, posted job openings rose 7.8 percent in March, with the actual number of openings rising by 500,000 from 6.1 million in February.
The Labor Department says that job openings rose 7.8 percent in March from 6.1 million in February.
Job openings increased in a number of industries, with the largest increases in professional and business services (+112,000), construction (+68,000), and transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+37,000).
From a geographical perspective, the number of job openings increased most in the Northeast and Midwest.
Despite the surge in job ads, hires and separations were little changed over the month, coming in at 5.4 million and 5.3 million, respectively.
There were 1.6 million layoffs and discharges in March, little changed from February. The layoffs and discharges rate was 1.1 percent in March.
The number of layoffs and discharges was also little changed for total private and for government.
The number of people quitting rose 4.2 percent to 3.3 million, barely ahead of December's total and the highest since January 2001.
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