The report indicated that the labor market could be getting hot again — a notable reversal of a cooling trend over the past year. Employers added half a million job openings between March and April, after steady declines that policymakers had pointed to as a sign that the labor market had come off its scorching highs from earlier last year.
The report also showed some signs of a gradual return to pre-pandemic norms in the labor market. The rate of workers quitting their jobs, which has been elevated, giving workers more leverage as they switched jobs, fell again to 2.4 percent, almost returning to its pre-pandemic level. Job openings fell in manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, and the information sector.
Economists urge caution in reading too much into the Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly reports due to volatility in the data and reports from outside sources that suggest that labor market has cooled more than BLS reports indicate.The falling rate of those who quit their job, along with other new data, suggests that workers are feeling increasingly anxious about their job security.
“The labor market is much closer to being back to its pre-pandemic normal than the openings rate suggests,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter. “Despite the fact that job openings are sky high, worker behavior does not suggest that. Workers are sheltering in place in their jobs.”