Job openings plummeted by 496,000 in May to 9.8 million, according to the monthly JOLTS report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The largest drops in job openings were in health care, as well as finance and insurance. Monthly job openings have fallen from a record 12 million in March 2022 but remain above the pre-pandemic level of about 7 million.
The number of people quitting—a measure of workers’ confidence in their ability to leave one job for another—increased by 250,000 to 4 million in May, showing that workers are still willing to job hop. Layoffs remained steady at 1.6 million for the month, reflected by the low numbers of weekly unemployment claims.
Meanwhile ADP reported this morning that private sector payrolls surged by 497,000 in June, double economists’ expectations, showing that the U.S. labor market is barreling along, despite efforts by the Federal Reserve to slow it down by raising interest rates.
On Friday, the Department of Labor will report on how many jobs the U.S. economy added in June, the unemployment rate and wage gains for the month.