WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - U.S. job openings dropped in June amid a sharp decline in the healthcare and social assistance sector, but a rise in hiring and low layoffs suggested the labor market remained stable.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, had decreased by 178,000 to 7.359 million by the last day of June, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday. 

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 7.400 million unfilled positions in June. Healthcare and social assistance job openings decreased by 147,000 in June.

Some economists have said the JOLTS report should be treated with caution, noting that the response rate to the survey had declined considerably. Economists continue to view the labor market as remaining in a "slow-hire, slow-fire" mode, which they say should allow the Federal Reserve to focus on inflation.

The U.S. central bank last week left its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 3.50%-3.75% range. Three members of the Fed's policy-setting committee dissented in favor of a quarter-percentage-point hike.

The job openings rate fell to 4.4% in June from 4.5% in May. Hiring increased by 96,000 to 5.348 million in June. The hires rate rose to 3.4% from 3.3% in May. Layoffs and discharges were little changed at 1.766 million, with the rate steady at 1.1%.

A Reuters survey of economists estimates that nonfarm payrolls increased by 80,000 jobs in July after a rise of 57,000 in June. The BLS is scheduled to publish the July employment report on Friday.

The unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 4.2%. There is, however, a risk it could edge higher after a Conference Board survey last week showed the share of consumers viewing jobs as "plentiful" dropped in July to the lowest level since February 2021.