Companies hired fewer people in August and job openings were largely flat, adding to evidence that the labor market is treading water.

Some 5.1 million people were hired last month, according to an update to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is a decline from 5.24 million in July and 5.47 million in May.

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Also, job openings were flat. Openings rose to 7.23 million in August, barely up from 7.21 million in July.

The “quits rate” measures the share of people who voluntarily left their jobs and includes

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