The number of job openings in the US increased to a record highs 9.286 million in April 2021 by +998,000 or 6.0 percent. Market expectations was 8.3 million. Largest job openings were in accommodation and foodservices (+349,000), other services (+115,000), and durable goods manufacturing (+78,000).
The number of job openings in the US increased to a record highs 9.286 million in April 2021 by +998,000 or 6.0 percent. Market expectations was 8.3 million. Largest job openings were in accommodation and foodservices (+349,000), other services (+115,000), and durable goods manufacturing (+78,000).
JOLTS employment trends for April 2021 Highlights
- JOLTS job openings for April 9268K (record high) vs 8200K estimate
- Hires rose by 69k to 6.075 million
- Hire rate at 4.2% unchanged
- Quits 3952K vs 3568K last month.
- Quit rate at 2.7%
- Separations 5760K vs 5436K last month.
- Separation rate at 4.0% versus 3.8% last month
- Layoffs and discharges 1444K vs 1525K last month.
- Layoffs and discharges at 1.0% versus 1.1% in March.
- There were 1.444M people fired in April versus 9.307M last year
- There or 1.06 unemployed jobseekers for each available job 364,000 people left their employer due to retirements, transfers to other locations, death, and separations due to disabilities
Large and small business owners have been complaining about the difficulty of finding qualified workers, despite the high unemployment rate due to the pandemic.
Job Openings
On the last business day of April, the job openings level and rate increased to series highs of 9.3 million (+998,000) and 6.0 percent, respectively.
The job openings series began in December 2000. Job openings increased in a number of industries with the largest increases in accommodation and food services (+349,000), other services (+115,000), and durable goods manufacturing (+78,000).
The number of job openings decreased in educational services (-23,000) and in mining and logging (-8,000). The number of job openings increased in all four regions.
Hires In April
The number of hires changed little at 6.1 million. The hires rate was unchanged at 4.2 percent.
Hires increased in accommodation and food services (+232,000) and in federal government (+10,000).
Hires decreased in construction (-107,000), durable goods manufacturing (-37,000), and educational services (-32,000). The number of hires was little changed in all four regions.
Source: Federal Reserve survey.