WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2022) Job openings in the United States hit a record high of 11.5 million at the end of March as vacancies continued to outpace hires in a labor market that remained overwhelmingly in favor of workers, the government's monthly Job Openings And Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) showed on Tuesday.
"The number of job openings was at a series high of 11.5 million on the last business day of March, although little changed over the month," the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a unit within the Labor Department, said in its monthly update on the JOLTS numbers.
There were 6.7 million hires at the end of March versus 6.3 million "separations" that were identified as quits, layoffs and discharges, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
Like hires, the number of quits also hit a record as they "edged up to a series high of 4.5 million", the it also said, underscoring a labor market that was overwhelmingly in favor of workers.
Economists polled by US media had expected just around 11.2 million job openings at end-March.
"(The) data reinforces the strength in the economy as (the) number of job openings pushes two new all-time highs," economist Greg Michalowski said on the ForexLive forum.�"In addition, employees are feeling empowered to quit and move to other jobs as evidenced by the series high in the quits rate."
Joblessness in the United States reached a record high of 14.8% in April 2020, with the loss of some 20 million jobs in the aftermath of the coronavirus breakout. Jobs recovery has, however, been strong over the past year, with the unemployment rate moving down to 3.6% at the end of March. A jobless rate of 4% or below is regarded by the Federal Reserve as maximum employment.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said last month that the labor market was "extremely tight" with robust demand and subdued supply. Powell also said that more than a million positions were filled within the first two months of the year due to robust economic growth. The economy grew 5.7% in 2021, expanding at its fastest pace in four decades, after a 3.5% contraction in 2020 from coronavirus-related disruptions.
Aside from ramping job numbers, the United States is experiencing one of the greatest transformations of its employment market as COVID-19 measures upended labor supply and work trends, putting employees' demands above those of employers.
The JOLTS report came ahead of Friday's all-important US non-farm payrolls report for April from the Labor Department, which is expected to cite a jobs growth of 391,000 last month and an unemployment rate of 3.5%.�
