Job Openings Fall, But Still Outnumber Workers
In the first of four major jobs reports this week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported despite a sharp drop in job openings in May, they still easily outdistanced the number of people looking for work.
The monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey—commonly known as JOLTS—reported job openings fell to 11.3 million in May—a marked drop of 425,000 from the revised 11.7 million figure from April. As a share of the labor force, vacancies fell from 7.2 percent to 6.8 percent.
The report said hires and total separations were little changed at 6.5 million and 6.0 million, respectively; the hires rate was 4.3 percent. Within separations, quits (4.3 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.4 million) were little changed as well from April. The largest decreases in job openings were in professional and business services (-325,000), durable goods manufacturing (-138,000), and nondurable goods manufacturing (-70,000.)
BLS said over the 12 months ending in May, hires totaled 78.4 million; 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.
“The May JOLTS reports adds to the evidence that the labor market is cooling from its recent red-hot state,” said Sarah House, Senior Economist with Wells Fargo Economics, Charlotte, N.C. “Job openings fell by 427K in May, while layoffs picked up and the number of workers quitting their job fell for a second straight month. That said, openings and quits remain historically strong, signaling that while momentum in the labor market is downshifting, the jobs market is hardly falling apart.”
House said the pullback in job openings “raises the prospects for a more meaningful slowdown in hiring” that could further dent spending power at a time when consumers are already struggling with the steepest inflation in decades. “While demand for labor is not collapsing, a slower hiring period is likely in store,” she said.
This morning, the Labor Department releases its weekly Initial Claims report for unemployment insurance; numbers have flirted with the 200,000 mark, putting them generally at pre-pandemic levels. Also this morning, ADP releases its monthly National Employment Report on private-sector hiring.
On Friday, BLS releases its monthly Employment report. MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni will provide analysis and commentary on the June numbers for the Monday, July 11 edition of MBA NewsLink.
