Switching positions
Looking to change up your job? There might not be as much choice as there was a couple of years ago. That’s the takeaway from national job openings data, which fell more than expected in April to the lowest level in over 3 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as the labor market continues to show signs of cooling.
The new figures released yesterday showed that the number of available positions in the US for April was 8.06M — some ~300K less than the month prior — translating to 1.24 openings for every unemployed person, the smallest ratio recorded since June 2021 and down from a peak of 2:1 in 2022.
With hiring rates slowing and quitting rates stalling, the latest job openings data suggests that the supply and demand for labor is normalizing back towards pre-pandemic levels; as such, bonds are surging ahead of Friday’s employment report, which is forecast to show the US adding 185K jobs for May.
