The number of job openings fell in July, government data showed on Tuesday in a troubling sign for a labor market that is struggling to create jobs.

Job openings - a measure of labor demand - dropped to 3.66 million from 3.72 million in June, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

The hiring rate, however, was steady at 3.2 percent in July.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by James Dalgleish)