The Job
Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) published by the Labor Department on
Tuesday revealed a 3.5 per cent m-o-m fall in the U.S. job openings in April after
a revised 5.2 per cent m-o-m decline (from -3.7 per cent m-o-m) in March.
According to
the report, employers posted 8.059 million job openings in April compared to
the March reading of 8.813 million (revised from 8.488 million in last month’s
report) and economists’ forecast of 8.340 million. This marked the lowest figure
since February 2021 (7.818 million). The job openings rate came in at 4.8 per
cent in April, down from a
downwardly revised 5.0 per cent (from 5.1 per cent) in the previous month. The
report showed that the largest decreases in job openings occurred in health
care and social assistance (-204,000), private education and health services
(-154,000) and leisure and hospitality (-109,000). Meanwhile, the biggest
advance took place in professional and business services (+122,000).
At the same
time, the number of hires rose
by 0.4 per cent m-o-m to 5.640 million in April compared to an upwardly revised
5.617 million (from 5.500 million) in March. The
hiring rate came in at 3.6 per cent, unchanged
compared to an upwardly revised March reading of 3.6 per cent (from 3.5 per
cent). Hires noticeably grew in trade,
transportation, and utilities (+92,000) and manufacturing (+68,000), but
decreased in leisure and hospitality (-74,000), professional and business
services (-64,000), and arts, entertainment, and recreation (-45,000).
The separation
rate was 5.372 million (or 3.4 per cent) in April, up 0.8 per cent from an upwardly
revised March reading of 5.330 million (or 3.4 per cent). Within separations, the number of quits reached 3.507 million (+2.9
per cent m-o-m) and the number of layoffs reached 1.515 million (-5.4 per cent m-o-m). The
quits rate was 2.2 per cent (flat m-o-m), and the
layoffs rate was 1.0 per cent (flat
m-o-m).