The number of job openings unexpectedly increased in April to the highest level since May 2024, showing that the labor market has some underlying strength.
The Tuesday morning update to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that job openings increased from 6.9 million in March to 7.6 million in April. Job openings had largely declined since peaking in March 2022, with a recent low of 6.6 million notched in December.
The reading was much higher than anticipated. Most economists were expecting job openings to remain static, not rise by 731,000.
“This report tells us that openings remain ample in a time of full employment,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist for High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note on the report. “That suggests that labor availability is throttling employment.”
Still, other details from Tuesday’s report were not as encouraging. The number of hires in April decreased by
Continue reading
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!