April job openings increased surprisingly to 7.39 million from March’s 7.2 million, exceeding forecasts. Growth was primarily in professional/business services and healthcare sectors. Hiring (3.5%) and quit (2%) rates continue hovering near decade lows, excluding pandemic periods. These low rates create obstacles for job seekers and suggest workers lack confidence in the current market.
What’s the bottom line? Despite April’s improvement, openings remain significantly below 2022’s peak of 1.2 million available positions. What’s more, remote work job listings appearing in multiple states may artificially inflate these numbers, meaning actual opportunities could be even scarcer. The job openings-to-unemployed ratio has also dropped from over 2:1 in 2022 to just 1:1 today – further evidence of a weakening labor market.