The Job
Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) issued by the Labor Department on Tuesday
showed a 2.8 per cent m-o-m jump in the U.S. job openings in May after a
revised 3.5 per cent m-o-m fall (from -5.2 per cent m-o-m) in April.
According to
the report, employers posted 8.140 million job openings in May compared to the April
reading of 7.919 million (revised from 8.059 million in last month’s report)
and economists’ prediction of 7.910 million. This was the first advance in
three months. The job openings rate came in at 4.9 per cent in May, up from an unrevised 4.8 per cent in the previous month. The report showed that the largest gains
in job openings occurred in state and local government, excluding education
(+117,000), durable goods manufacturing (+97,000), and federal government
(+37,000). Meanwhile, the biggest decreases took place in accommodation and
food services (-147,000) and in private educational services (-34,000).
At the same
time, the number of hires climbed
by 2.5 per cent m-o-m to 5.756 million in May compared to a downwardly revised 5.615
million (from 5.640 million) in April. This marked the highest print in three
months. The
hiring rate came in at 3.6 per cent, up from a downwardly revised April reading of 3.5
per cent (from 3.6 per cent).
The separation
rate was 5.422 million (or 3.4 per cent) in May, up 1.6 per cent from a downwardly
revised April reading of 5.337 million (or 3.4 per cent). This represented the highest
reading in three months. Within separations, the number of quits reached 3.459 million (+0.2
per cent m-o-m) and the number of layoffs reached 1.654 million (+7.3 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).