US job openings are at their highest level in nearly two years
New townhouses stand near the Reservoir Park Recreation Center on April 8 in Washington
By Alicia Wallace, CNN
(CNN) — US businesses are brushing off those “Now Hiring” signs: Job postings rose sharply in April to their highest level in nearly two years, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed Tuesday.
However, the latest look at labor turnover also showed that the US job market remains entrenched in a low-hire, low-fire dynamic.
The number of available jobs jumped to an estimated 7.62 million positions at the end of April, increasing from 6.89 million in March and bucking a two-month decline, the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed.
More than 90% of the increase in April job openings were in the professional and business services industry, BLS data showed.
Economists were expecting that job postings would shrink for the third month in a row, falling slightly to 6.8 million from March’s initially reported estimate of 6.87 million, according to FactSet estimates.
Tuesday’s data, which could indicate a resurgence in demand for workers, could provide further reassurance that the workforce is not only stabilizing but possibly expanding.
Hiring activity – both the level of new workers and the rate of new hires as a percentage of total employment – retreated after bolting higher in March. It was a similar story for layoffs, which tumbled to a three-month low after a spike the month before.
Plus, employees are clinging tight to the jobs they have: Voluntary quits – looked to as a measure of workers’ confidence in the labor market – fell to their lowest level since the pandemic.
Quits dropped to 2.98 million in April from nearly 3.2 million the month before. The last time quits were this low was in August 2020.
The labor market churn – the inflow and outflow of workers – has slowed significantly in the past two years due to a confluence of dynamics, including the aging (and retiring) of workers, a post-pandemic hiring normalization, the emergence of new technologies, increasing economic uncertainty and sharp reductions in immigration.
Economists had cautioned that the US-Israeli war with Iran and the related oil and supply shock could suppress hiring activity in the United States.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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