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  • U.S. job openings decline 3.7 per cent in March, hires plunge 4.9 per cent, separations tumble 6.1 per cent
Economic news
01.05.2024

U.S. job openings decline 3.7 per cent in March, hires plunge 4.9 per cent, separations tumble 6.1 per cent

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released by the Labor Department on Wednesday showed a 3.7 per cent m-o-m decline in the U.S. job openings in March after a revised 0.7 per cent m-o-m advance (from +0.1 per cent m-o-m) in February.

According to the report, employers posted 8.488 million job openings in March compared to the February reading of 8.813 million (revised from 8.756 million in last month’s report) and economists’ prediction of 8.690 million. This was the lowest figure since February 2021 (7.818 million). The job openings rate came in at 5.1 per cent in March, down from an unrevised 5.3 per cent in the previous month. The report revealed that the largest declines in job openings occurred in construction (-182,000) and in finance and insurance (-158,000). Meanwhile, the biggest gain took place in state and local government education (+68,000).

At the same time, the number of hires plunged by 4.9 per cent m-o-m to 5.500 million in March compared to a downwardly revised 5.781 million (from 5.818 million) in February. This marked the lowest print since April 2020 (4.016 million). The hiring rate came in at 3.5 per cent, down from an unrevised 3.7 per cent in February. Hires decreased noticeably in trade, transportation, and utilities (-103,000), construction (-59,000) and leisure and hospitality (-51,000). 

The separation rate was 5.200 million (or 3.3 per cent) in March, down 6.1 per cent from a downwardly revised January reading of 5.539 million (or 3.5 per cent). This represented the lowest reading since September 2020 (5.097 million). Within separations, the number of quits reached 3.329 million (-5.6 per cent m-o-m) and the number of layoffs reached 1.526 million (-9.2 per cent m-o-m). The quits rate was 2.1 per cent (-0.1 p.p. m-o-m), and the layoffs rate was 1.0 per cent (-0.1 p.p. m-o-m).

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