US job openings surge to 10.1 million, exceeding all estimates
VACANCIES at US employers unexpectedly surged in April to the highest in three months, suggesting demand for workers remains strong despite challenging economic conditions.
The number of available positions increased to 10.1 million from an upwardly revised 9.75 million in March, the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or Jolts, showed on Wednesday (May 31). The figure beat all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists, which called for 9.4 million openings.
The advance was led by retail trade, health care and transportation and warehousing. Openings fell in accommodation and food services, business services and manufacturing.
Demand for labour has remained largely resilient, even though tighter financial conditions have forced some employers to hit the brakes on hiring. While job cuts that began in white-collar sectors including technology and banking are starting to spread to other industries, some companies are still struggling to find workers.
The yield on the two-year Treasury spiked after the report, erasing earlier declines as traders weighed the prospect of higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 was little changed and the dollar rose.
The figures show demand for workers continues to outstrip supply, and the Fed has stressed it’s key to get the two back into balance to cool wage growth. The data, combined with inflation that’s still running well above target, may tilt officials to press on with another interest-rate hike when they meet in two weeks.
On the other hand, some officials are leaning toward a pause given stress in the banking sector and the debt-ceiling drama. Policymakers will also get the government’s monthly jobs report on Friday, which is forecast to show hiring slowed and the unemployment rate ticked up in May.
Layoffs declined, led by construction as well as leisure and hospitality. The so-called quits rate, which measures voluntary job leavers as a share of total employment, dropped to a more than two-year low of 2.4 per cent. That equates to about 3.8 million Americans and reflected large declines among workers in health care and business services. BLOOMBERG
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