US Job Openings Rise in May to 11.254M Up From 11.00M in April

The JOLTS survey showed Job openings in the U.S. rose to 11.254 million in May. Layoffs and discharges remained around 1.4 million, while hires and total separations changed little at 6.5 million and 6.0 million, respectively. JOLTS is the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey published by the BLS. The largest decreases were in real estate and rental and leasing (-30,000) and in state and local government education (-28,000). The BLS reports the May Jobs Report Friday.

Working

Over the 12 months ending in May, hires totaled 78.4 million and separations totaled 72.0 million, yielding a net employment gain of 6.4 million. These totals include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.

JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – May 2022

Private Sector Estimates

Separate private-sector estimates showed demand for workers remained robust through mid-June as well:

  • ZipRecruiter estimating slightly more than 11.3 million openings.
  • Bayard Advertising, a job-advertisement firm shows 10.9 million openings through mid-June based on job postings and active advertisements.

“We have seen a little bit of softening in certain industries, but the overall job market remains remarkably strong,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.

Companies such as Netflix Inc. and Tesla Inc., along with Redfin Corp. and Compass Inc., have been laying off workers amid rising costs, but the layoffs in the technology industry remain limited.

“There have been some very high-profile layoffs, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there are widespread layoffs,” said Daniel Zhao, senior economist at jobs site Glassdoor.

JOLTS May 2022 Highlights

  • JOLTS US job openings for May 11.254M vs. 11.100M expected
  • Last month 11.855M revised from 11.549M
  • In May, the number of total separations was little changed at 6.0 million. The rate was unchanged at 3.9 percent.
  • Total separations decreased in real estate and rental and leasing (-30,000) and in state and local government education (-28,000).
  • In May, the number and rate of quits were little changed at 4.3 million and 2.8 percent, respectively.
  • Quits decreased in real estate and rental and leasing (-33,000) and in state and local government education (-19,000).
  • Quits increased in arts, entertainment, and recreation (+19,000).
  • In May, the number of layoffs and discharges was little changed at 1.4 million. The rate was unchanged at 0.9 percent.
  • Layoffs and discharges increased in wholesale trade (+24,000) and in federal government (+4,000).
  • The number of other separations was little changed in May at 324,000. Other separations decreased in state and local government education (-12,000) and in educational services (-3,000). Other separations increased in real estate and rental and leasing (+6,000).

The Labor Department will release its June employment numbers on Friday; economists’ consensus is employers created 250,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate held at 3.6%.

Source: TradersCommunity Data, BLS

From The TradersCommunity News Desk