US job openings rise slightly in May

2nd Jul 2024 15:41

(Sharecast News) - Job openings in the US rose modestly last month and more Americans felt secure enough to hazard leaving their job voluntarily and find new employment.

According to the US Department of Labor, in May the number of job postings increased by 2.8% month-on-month to reach 8.14m.

Economists had forecast a decline from April's previous estimate of 8.059m to 7.91m.

Data for April however had been revised down to 7.919m.

Hiring meanwhile was up by 2.5% to 5.77m and separations

Separations or 'quits', which denote confidence in prospects for the jobs markets, rose by 1.6% to 5.422m.

The latter meant that the so-called 'quits rate' was unchanged from April at 2.2%. That also marked the seventh consecutive month of no change and was a tenth of a percentage point below its average level of 2019.

"That rate is a touch below pre-pandemic levels and is consistent with ongoing moderation in wage growth but isn't sending any signals about significant weakness in the labor market," said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist at Oxford Economics.

For his part, James Knightley at ING said the decline in the quits rate from its cycle high pointed to slowing wage growth and inflation.

Knightley said: "If we get another couple of 0.2% month-on-month or below core inflation prints, unemployment breaking above 4% and more evidence of cooling consumer spending growth, we believe the Fed will start to move monetary policy from restrictive territory to "slightly less" restrictive territory in 25bp increments down to around 4% by mid-2025."