Job openings in April remain near record highs, U.S. employers report

[TeamProg]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/06/01/jolts-job-quits-april/

4.4 million Americans quit or changed jobs, new Labor Department figures show
By Abha Bhattarai
June 1, 2022 at 10:03 a.m. EDT


Job openings remain near record highs with 11.4 million job openings, as the tight labor market continues to be a bright spot for the U.S. economy.

Some 4.4 million Americans quit or changed jobs in April, according to a report released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, using their leverage in a labor economy where job openings continue to outnumber job seekers by close to two-to-one.

Employers reported hiring 6.6 million people in April. Layoffs, meanwhile, fell to an all-time low of 1.2 million, as businesses sought to keep the workers they did have.

“The labor market remains strong even though things are cooling off a bit,” said Nick Bunker, an economist at the jobs site Indeed. “We’re still very much in a worker’s and job-seeker’s market.”

The latest figures come as the U.S. job market notches month after month of solid growth. U.S. employers added 428,000 jobs in April — the 12th consecutive month of at least 400,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate is at a pandemic low of 3.6 percent.


In all, the labor market has added more than 6.5 million jobs in the past year and is on pace to return to pre-pandemic levels this summer. That brisk growth has empowered millions of workers to leave dissatisfying jobs.

[Johnny2X2X]

1. Lots of good economic news this week so far

And of course it's caused the markets to go down as the rich have bet against the American economy right now. Really good news on manufacturing too.

[andym]

2. A mild recession with near full employment will be shallow

but the question is will it be enough to tame inflation. OTOH inflation is being driven by oil prices (Ukraine war) and supply side shortages (China lockdowns) as well as the Fed's previous stimulus.