Mubasher: The number of job openings announced by US businesses was at the lowest level since one year and a half, in the last business day of August, official data showed on Wednesday.

Job openings, which traces labour demand, were 7.05 million last August, compared with a revised 7.17 million in July, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

This was the lowest figure recorded since March last year, according to MarketWatch.

The job openings rate, or number of job openings on the end of the month as a percentage of total employment plus job openings, was at 4.4% during the month, inching down from 4.5% in the previous month.

Hires came in at 5.78 million during August, edging down from 5.98 million in July, with the hiring declining by 0.1% to 3.8%.

The number of separations, including quits, layoffs and discharges also declined to 5.64 million, compared with the revised 5.81 million in the preceding month.

Within separations, the quits rate went down to 2.3% last August, while the number of layoffs and discharges remained stable at 1.2%.