U.S. April JOLTS report suggests labor market back near pre-pandemic picture
April’s JOLTS report is weaker than expected showing openings down by 296k to 8.059m, with March revised down to 8.355m from 8.488m, now down by 458k after a modest 65k increase in February. This suggests a renewed weakening in trend which started 2024 fairly neutral.
The data suggests some loss of momentum in the labor market with the job openings rate of 4.8% now close to pre-pandemic levels near 4.5% suggesting the labor market has moved into a better balance. Hirings up by 23k, and separations, up by 42k, were little changed in April though quits with a 98k rise reversed most of 118k decline in March. Resilience in quits suggest the labor market is still perceived as healthy though the quits rate of 2.2% had already returned to pre-pandemic levels.
