Job openings fell to the lowest level since February 2021 in April as the labor market showed further signs of a cooling in the hiring boom that accompanied the post-pandemic reopening of the U.S. economy.
New data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed there were 8.06 million job openings at the end of April, down from 8.35 million job openings in March.
The March figure was revised down from an initially reported 8.48 million job openings. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 8.35 million job openings in April.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed 5.6 million jobs were added during the month, little changed from March.
The employment rate was 3.6%, unchanged from March. Also reported Tuesday was the job separation rate, a gauge of worker confidence, which remained steady at 2.2%.
“The decline in job openings suggests the pace of hiring will slow in the coming months. However, as layoffs remain low, net job growth should remain positive,” Nancy Vanden Houten, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a note after Tuesday's release.
Investors have been closely watching the JOLTS report along with other key labor market data for signs that cooling labor demand will lead to easing inflationary pressures and strengthen the case for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates from their 23-year highs.
Vanden Houten said the Fed will likely welcome signs of cooling labor market conditions in the latest JOLTS report, but the central bank will need to see further evidence of falling inflation before cutting rates.
read more: How does the labor market affect inflation?
“The labor market remains reasonably healthy and the Fed's policy decisions will be based primarily on inflation measures,” Vanden Houten wrote.
The report kicks off a busy week for labor market data, which also includes an update on private sector employment and wage growth from ADP on Wednesday, jobless claims on Thursday and May's payrolls report on Friday.
The May jobs report is expected to show that the U.S. economy added 185,000 nonfarm payrolls last month, keeping the unemployment rate steady at 3.9%, according to Bloomberg data.
The U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs in April, but the unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage point to 3.9%.
Josh Shaffer is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X Follow.
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