JOB openings in the US rose in February to the highest level in almost five years, which may signal the slowdown in hiring last month will prove temporary.

The number of positions waiting to be filled climbed by 314,000 to 3.93 million, the most since May 2008, from a revised 3.61 million in January, the US Labor Department said yesterday. Hiring and firing also accelerated.

The report, which followed data last week showing payroll gains cooled in March from a one-year high, indicates the labor market was gaining momentum before across-the-board cuts in government spending went into effect on March 1. Federal Reserve policy makers are waiting for a sustained pickup in hiring and a drop in the jobless rate before tapering record stimulus.

"Employment conditions are improving," said Russell Price, a senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Inc in Detroit. At the same time, "it is a frustratingly slow pace for policymakers."

The report helps shed light on the dynamics behind the monthly job data.

Payrolls jumped by 268,000 workers in February, the biggest gain in a year, after rising 148,000 in the prior month, the department data showed on Friday. The advance slowed to 88,000 in March. The jobless rate fell to 7.6 percent last month, the lowest since December 2008, from 7.7 percent in February.