The number of job openings in April jumped to 7.61 million, an increase of 752,000 from March and the most since May 2024. The quit rate fell to 1.9% which matches the smallest print since 2014 outside of Covid, observes Peter Boockvar, editor of The Boock Report.
Just about all of the increase in job openings came from just the “professional/business services” line item, which spiked by 668,000. I wish I had more detail on what this consists of, specifically outside of the typical white collar desk job.
Job Openings
Healthcare/social assistance also helped, rising by 89,000. Openings in construction and manufacturing rose a touch. Trade/transportation, which includes retail/wholesale trade, was little changed.
Leisure and hospitality openings fell to the lowest since 2017 – not including the 2020 and 2021 Covid distortions. Job openings in finance/insurance totaled 300,000 vs. 435,000 in March and 330,000 in February.
Bottom line: That rise in “professional and business services” accounts for just about all of the rise in job openings. Maybe AI won’t be taking everyone’s white collar jobs after all?
Still, the hiring rate remains muted as does the quit rate. That all points to a still-mixed-but-strange labor market when we look at both hirings and firings.
