U.S. job postings jumped in April

Labor demand highest since ’07

A job seeker (left) talks to a sales manager with Trillium Staffing at a job fair last month in Muskegon, Mich. Job openings in the U.S. climbed in April, the Labor Department said Tuesday.
A job seeker (left) talks to a sales manager with Trillium Staffing at a job fair last month in Muskegon, Mich. Job openings in the U.S. climbed in April, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON -- Job openings in the U.S. climbed to an almost seven-year high in April as employers sought more workers to help manage stronger demand in a rebounding economy.

Employers posted nearly 4.5 million jobs, up from 4.2 million in March, the Labor Department said Tuesday. It's the largest number of job listings since September 2007.

"Job openings are a measure of the demand for labor, so, in general, you like to see a rising trend," said Ryan Wang, an economist at HSBC Securities USA Inc. "There's been improvement in the labor turnover figures, and business surveys also suggest that conditions are gradually improving."

Companies have been slow to fill openings since the recession ended, so the increase in postings won't automatically lead to more jobs. The report showed that the number of jobs filled in April, 4.7 million, was largely unchanged from March. In the past year, job postings have jumped 16.5 percent, while hiring has risen just 6 percent.

But more job openings typically points to an improving job market. A monthly employment report Friday showed the economy generated 217,000 jobs in May, while the unemployment rate remained at a five-year low of 6.3 percent.

"Today's report appears to confirm that the U.S. labor market has indeed shifted to a period of stronger growth," said Jeremy Schwartz, an analyst at Credit Suisse.

Almost all the gain occurred in the private sector, while government job openings rose slightly. The biggest increases were in retail, restaurants and hotels, which include mostly lower-paying jobs. Still, the professional and business services category, which includes higher-paying jobs such as accountants and engineers, posted a big jump.

There are now on average 2.2 unemployed people for each available job. That's down from a peak of 6.7 in July 2009, just after the recession ended, and is close to the 2-to-1 ratio that is typical of a healthy economy.

Tuesday's report, known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey, offers a more complete picture of the job market. It reports figures for overall hiring, as well as the number of people who quit their jobs and layoffs. The monthly jobs figures are a net total of job gains or losses.

About 2.47 million people quit their jobs in April, up from 2.46 million the previous month. The rate of workers who quit their jobs held at 1.8 percent in April, down from a 2.1 percent reading when the recession started almost six years ago.

Stronger job markets usually include a greater amount of churn, with more people quitting and greater overall hiring.

In April, the number of people who quit or were laid off barely rose. More quitting can be a sign of confidence in the economy because most workers quit only when they have another job or are confident they can get one. Quitting also opens up more jobs for the unemployed to seek.

Tuesday's figures show that employers and workers are still relatively cautious. The number of people quitting has been rising slowly but is still below pre-recession levels.

Janet Yellen, chairman of the Federal Reserve, has said the central bank monitors the job openings, quits and hiring figures as key indicators of the job market's health. The figures help the Fed decide how to manage short-term interest rates and other efforts to foster financial stability.

Meanwhile, U.S. wholesale businesses built up their stockpiles of goods in April, a sign that companies expect stronger economic growth in the coming months.

The Commerce Department said Tuesday that wholesale stockpiles expanded 1.1 percent in April, after a 1.1 percent gain in March. The result marks 10 straight months of rising inventories.

Sales at the wholesale level climbed 1.3 percent, led by automobiles, furniture and pharmaceutical drugs. Sales rose 1.6 percent in March. Year-over-year, sales are up 6.7 percent.

Because sales have roughly kept pace with the higher inventories, companies will likely need to continue restocking their shelves to meet rising consumer and business demand. That should help to fuel faster economic growth as more factories crank up their production and the spending ripples through the broader economy.

The Commerce Department report covers inventories held at the wholesale level. In a later report, the government will detail inventories at the manufacturing and retail levels.

Information for this article was contributed by Christopher S. Rugaber and Josh Boak of The Associated Press and Victoria Stilwell and Ainhoa Goyeneche of Bloomberg News.

Business on 06/11/2014

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