Vacancies set new record of 9.3 million amid economic reopening

Job vacancies rose to a new all-time high in April, with 9.3 million job openings coming in as the economy quickly recovered from the pandemic.

The norm set in April was well above 8.3 million in March, itself a new high that dates back to 2000 for the Labor Departments Job Opening and Turnover Survey.

Federal Reserve policymakers are closely monitoring the JOLTS numbers for indications of labor slack, even though they are a month behind more widely publicized nonfarm payrolls.

Markets were looking for a JOLTS figure of around 8.18 million, according to FactSet.

The big jump in vacancies came during a month when hiring was disappointing. Payrolls rose by just 278,000 at a time when economists were looking for growth of about 1 million.

However, the Department of Labor has struggled with seasonal adjustments, exacerbated by the uniqueness of the virus situation, and JOLTS figures indicated that the job market is poised for continued strong growth going forward.

However, a major challenge for employers is finding available labor. Childcare problems, lingering fears of the pandemic and the temptation of increased unemployment benefits have kept the unemployment rate at 9.3 million, about 3.6 million higher than before the pandemic.

Rents for April remained subdued at 69,000, or an unchanged 4.2% from the previous month.

The number of layoffs, which is seen as a measure of workers’ confidence that they can find other work, has risen significantly to 3.95 million. That represented a growth of 384,000, an increase of 10.8%, bringing the quit rate as a share of the labor force to a record 2.7% from 2.5%.

Retail saw a particularly strong increase in cancellations to 4.3% from 3.6%.

The total number of divorces increased to 5.76 million, a gain of 324,000 that brought the rate from 3.8% to 4%. Layoffs and layoffs fell to 1%, another string of lows.