The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report on Tuesday. Job openings climbed to 5.363 million in May from 5.334 million in Apil. It was the highest reading since December 2000.
April's figure was revised up from 5.350 million.
The number of job openings increased for total private (4.852 million) and for government (511,000) in April.
The hires rate was 3.5% in May.
Total separations fell to 4.743 million in May from 4.895 million in April.
The JOLTS report is one of the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's favourite labour market indicators.