US job openings fell more than expected in April to the lowest in more than three years, a sign that labour market conditions are softening in a manner that could help the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation.
Job openings, a measure of labour demand, were down 296,000 to 8.059 million on the last day of April, the lowest level since February 2021, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said today in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report.
There were 1.24 job openings in April for every job-seeker, the data showed. That was down from 1.3 in March and the lowest since June 2021, but matched the high-water mark of pre-pandemic times.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has often cited this ratio, which peaked near two job openings for every unemployed person, as a measure of labour market slack.
The decline points to "an ongoing normalization between supply and demand for labour," said Rubeela Farooqi, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics.
"From a policy perspective, the Fed's challenge will be to maintain rates at a level that not only helps keep inflation in check but also prevents a significant weakening in the labor market going forward."
Data for March was revised slightly lower to show 8.355 million unfilled positions instead of the previously reported 8.488 million. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 8.355 million job openings in April. Vacancies peaked at a record 12.0 million in March 2022.
The number of people quitting their jobs rose 98,000 to 3.507 million in April. The quits rate was unchanged from a month earlier at 2.2%, the lowest since September 2020.
