WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - U.S. job openings fell more than expected in February and hiring dropped to the lowest level in nearly six years, government data showed on Tuesday.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, decreased 358,000 to 6.882 million by the last day of February, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 6.918 million unfilled jobs. The job openings rate dropped to 4.2% from 4.4% in January.

Hiring decreased by 498,000 positions to 4.849 million last month, the lowest level since March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The hires rate dropped to 3.1% from 3.4% in January. Layoffs and discharges increased 61,000 to a still-low 1.721 million, with the rate rising to 1.1% from 1.0% in the prior month. 

A reluctance by employers to engage in large-scale hiring or layoffs has created what Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell this month called a "zero-employment growth equilibrium" that has "a feel of downside risk."

Economists blame the labor market stasis on lingering uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump's trade and immigration policies that have undercut demand for and supply of workers. Private nonfarm payrolls growth averaged only 18,000 jobs per month in the three months through February.