U.S. job openings fell in April from a record in the prior month though remained elevated at roughly double the number of unemployed Americans, suggesting little relief for employers struggling to attract and retain workers.
The number of available positions decreased to 11.4 million in the month from an upwardly revised 11.9 million in March, the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed Wednesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 11.35 million openings.
The JOLTS report has become one of the key markers of the tightness of the U.S. labor market, often referenced by Federal Reserve officials like Chair Jerome Powell as a sign the economy can withstand higher interest rates without a significant jump in unemployment. Policy makers are aiming to reduce demand for labor, in turn cooling wage growth and helping lower inflation, without tipping the economy into recession.
