US Job Openings Hit Two-Year High, but Americans Are Finding It Harder to Get Hired
The U.S. labor market sent mixed signals in May, with job openings climbing to their highest level in two years even as hiring slowed, and more Americans reported that finding work has become increasingly difficult.
Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed employers posted 7.594 million job openings at the end of May, up slightly from April and well above economists’ expectations of 7.3 million. The increase suggests businesses continue to seek workers despite concerns over inflation, high interest rates and global geopolitical tensions.
However, the encouraging headline number was tempered by a decline in hiring. Employers filled fewer positions during the month, indicating that while jobs remain available, companies are taking longer to make hiring decisions or are becoming more selective.
Economists say the combination points to a labor market that remains resilient but is gradually losing momentum rather than entering a sharp downturn. “The labor market continues to show signs of stabilization,” Matthew Martin, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, told Reuters.
“For Fed officials, this means their attention will stay focused on the inflation mandate and ensuring price stability.” According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS, hiring fell by 45,000 to 5.17 million in May, marking the second consecutive monthly decline. The hiring rate held steady at 3.3%, but weakness was concentrated in transportation, warehousing and utilities, with additional declines in construction and wholesale trade.
The softer hiring numbers stand in contrast to recent monthly payroll reports, which have shown stronger-than-expected job creation. That discrepancy has led some economists to warn that the government’s employment figures for May could eventually be revised lower or that hiring weakened significantly during the latter part of the month.
“We were surprised to see the total hiring rate unchanged and the private hiring rate decline again in May despite stronger May job growth,” Veronica Clark, an economist at Citigroup, told Reuters. “This could mean possible revisions lower to May data or weaker net job growth.”
Economists surveyed by Reuters expect the economy added about 110,000 jobs last month, down from 172,000 in May, while the unemployment rate is projected to remain at 4.3%. The latest figures also suggest that Americans themselves are becoming less optimistic about their job prospects.
A separate survey released Tuesday by the Conference Board found that the share of consumers who believe jobs are “hard to get” jumped to 22.5% in June, the highest level since January 2021. Meanwhile, the percentage of respondents who said jobs are “plentiful” remained virtually unchanged at 24.9%.
Historically, that measure has closely tracked changes in the national unemployment rate. “Consumers anticipate little change in the labor market six months from now,” Conference Board Chief Economist Dana Peterson said. Hiring demand also varied sharply across industries.
Small businesses also appeared to be pulling back. Companies with fewer than 10 employees posted 132,000 fewer job openings, while nearly all of May’s increase came from businesses employing between 10 and 249 workers. Other indicators suggest workers are becoming more cautious about changing jobs.
Layoffs rose modestly by 41,000 in May to 1.708 million but remained historically low. Meanwhile, voluntary resignations increased only slightly to 3.065 million, leaving the quits rate unchanged at 1.9%.
Economists often view the quits rate as a measure of worker confidence because employees are more likely to leave when they believe better opportunities are readily available. “Workers tend to quit jobs when they believe something better is within reach, and right now the data indicate that many clearly don’t,” Indeed Hiring Lab economist Sneha Puri told Reuters.
