- John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas
US job openings fell below 5 million in March, pointing to a slight deterioration in the labour market at the end of the first quarter. US employers announced 4.994 million open job positions in the reported month, compared with the 5.108 million vacancies economists had predicted after the Department of Labor reported 5.144 million openings in February. The previous reading had been initially estimated at 5.133 million. The revised February data marks the second highest reading of the series going back to the early 2000s. The record was set in January 2001, when the US economy had 5.273 million job openings. While the markets tend to ignore the JOLTS report, the indicator is closely watched by Fed policy makers, and is frequently mentioned by Chair Janet Yellen.
Yet, the non-farm payrolls report last week indicated that hiring recovered to 223,000 in April from the lowest level in four years of 85,000 in March. Overall, gains in payrolls have moderated this year after employers hired more than 3.1 million workers last year, the most in 15 years. The unemployment rate inched lower to 5.4% from 5.5% in March. Meanwhile, the Fed's exhaustive measure of the US jobs market remained at the lowest level since mid-2012. The labour market conditions index declined to -1.9 points last month from a steeply downwardly revised -1.8 points in March
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