Job openings declined to a roughly three-year low in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.However, job applicants should be prepared for a more challenging hiring environment than in 2021 and 2022.National job openings in April fell to their lowest level in more than three years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsJob openings are a barometer of employer demand for labor. They declined by 296,000 during the month to about 8.
Labor data on Tuesday"provided further evidence of normalization" toward a pre-pandemic baseline, Thomas Ryan, a North America economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a research note. The current job market is more sustainable, she said. A gradual cooling may also help influence the Federal Reserve to soon start lowering borrowing costs for consumers.Job seekers should be prepared for a somewhat more challenging experience, such as a 10% to 20% increase in applicants for many job listings, Pollak said.