JOLTS: Continued Tight Labor Markets

Bottom Line:  The Job Openings Layoffs and Turnover Survey confirmed tight labor market conditions. In March, openings rose sharply, hitting a new record with prior data revised to show even more openings. While the JOLTS report is lagged relative to other labor market indicators, the report provides greater granularity than most. We see a continued uptrend in turnover due to workers quitting jobs to find new ones. Amid further reopenings and easier mask mandates, job openings rose notably in retail and goods manufacturing. Overall, these data suggest that the labor market was even tighter than previously estimated. The pace of hiring remained robust as employers struggled to fill openings with qualified candidates, and existing employees continued to feel emboldened to quit for better prospects.Job Openings ROSE by 205k in March to 11.549 million, compared with market expectations for an increase to 11.200 million. Government job openings FELL by 44k. Consequently, private-sector job openings ROSE by 248k. Over the past 12 months, there were 3,069k more job openings.Job Hires FELL by 95k in March to 6.737 million. Over the past 12 months, there were 529k more job hires. Job Separations ROSE by 239k in March to 6.321 million. Over the past 12 months, there were 781k more job separations.The Hires to Job openings ratio FELL by 0.019 points from 0.602 to 0.583 and is modestly below its 12-month average of 0.604.

The Number of Unemployed to Job openings ratio FELL by 0.04 points from 0.55 to 0.52 and is sharply below its 12-month average of 0.73.