New federal data showed U.S. job openings rose sharply in April, while hiring, quits and separations declined as employers and workers remained cautious.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
U.S. job openings climbed to their highest level since November 2024, signaling stronger labor demand even as employers continued to hire cautiously amid inflation pressures and the three-month-old war in Iran.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported June 2 that job vacancies rose by 731,000 in April to 7.618 million, according to the agency’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary. Economists had expected openings to fall for a third straight month to about 6.88 million.
The March figure was also revised slightly higher to 6.887 million.
The sharp increase was driven mostly by professional and business services, which added 668,000 openings. The finance and insurance sector moved in the opposite direction, with vacancies falling by 135,000.
The report showed that demand for workers increased, but the labor market continued to show signs of what economists have described as “low fire, low hire” conditions. Employers were not cutting large numbers of workers, but they also were not rapidly adding new staff.
Hiring fell by 419,000 to 5.1 million in April. The bureau said, “Hires were little changed in all industries.”
Layoffs and discharges remained largely stable at 1.7 million. Retail trade layoffs declined by 88,000.
Workers also appeared less willing to leave their jobs voluntarily. Quits dropped to 2.977 million, the lowest level since mid-2020, from a downwardly revised 3.16 million. The quits rate fell to 1.9 percent, also the lowest level since 2020.
Economists monitor quits because they can indicate how confident workers feel about finding another job. A lower quits rate suggests more employees are staying put rather than taking chances in the labor market.
Total separations, which include quits, layoffs, discharges, deaths and retirements, declined by 399,000 to 5 million.
The data challenged expectations that inflation and the war in Iran would weigh more heavily on hiring and labor demand. Instead, the April figures suggested the job market could be strengthening heading into the summer.
The JOLTS report opened a week of key labor market data. Private-sector payroll figures and planned job-cut data are scheduled for release June 3 and June 4, followed by the May jobs report on June 5.
Early estimates indicate the economy added 85,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate remained at 4.3 percent.
Economists at RBC Economics said shrinking immigration and lower labor force participation are expected to keep the unemployment rate low.
“Our estimate of breakeven employment remains exceptionally low, as retirements create openings that when backfilled, don’t show up as a payroll gains,” they wrote in a May 29 note.
“Coupled with the precipitous fall in immigration, the labor market needs far fewer new jobs for the unemployment rate to hold steady,” they added.
New research has also raised questions about the labor market facing younger workers, particularly recent college graduates.
The unemployment rate for recent college graduates ages 22 to 27 is 5.6 percent, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That figure is near pandemic-era levels and above the 3.1 percent unemployment rate for all college graduates.
Many young Americans have blamed artificial intelligence for job-market difficulties. A recent Marist University survey found that 73 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 believe AI will reduce the number of jobs, while 70 percent of undergraduates believe finding work will be difficult.
However, economists at the New York Federal Reserve said remote work may explain much of the recent rise in unemployment among young college graduates.
The researchers said employers may be less willing to hire new graduates because remote work makes it harder to train inexperienced workers.
“We estimate that remote work can explain 64 percent of the recent increase in unemployment among young college graduates. Further, the timing of this surge suggests that remote work—not generative AI—explains the bulk of the rise in youth unemployment,” New York Fed economists wrote in a June 1 paper.
The economists cautioned that AI “may play a more primary role” in future employment trends.
The April labor report showed a job market with rising openings but cautious movement from both employers and employees. Businesses posted more positions, but hiring declined, layoffs remained contained and workers quit at the lowest rate in years.
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