Job openings surge to a record 6.3 million, Labor Department says

CNBC ^ | 03/16/2018 | Jeff Cox

[SeekAndFind]

Job openings in the U.S. surged to a record 6.3 million, according to the most recent count from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The number of new positions surged by 645,000 as of the end of January, a new high for the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The metric gets close attention from Federal Reserve policymakers when gauging the economy and the appropriate monetary policy response.

The report suggests slack remains in the labor market, as employers continue to hire and the pool of available jobs grows.

Most of the openings came in the private sector, which saw 608,000 new positions. The jobs openings rate increased to 4.1 percent, identical to the unemployment rate.

Professional and business led the way in new openings with 215,000, while transportation, warehousing and utilities added 113,000 and construction added 101,000.

The key "quits" rate, which mostly measures the amount of workers who left jobs voluntarily, edged lower to 3.27 million, from 3.34 million in December. Professional and business services accounted for a good share of the decline in quits, from 747,000 to 676,000.

Quits are considered a proxy for worker confidence and mobility — representing either those who are moving on to better positions or are leaving their jobs with confidence that opportunity awaits. They are a component of the larger "separations" category in the JOLTS report.

Layoffs and discharges rose a bit, from 1.66 million in December to 1.76 million in January.

The release comes amid a strong time for job creation.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 313,000 in February and 239,000 in January, part of a run where the Labor Department's official count has been above 200,000 for four of the past five months and six of the last eight.

[Hyman Roth]

But but but..............Stormy Daniels.

[MichaelCorleone]

Yep - market grinding higher on the news, as well it should.

President Trump is well suited to bring back the real economy.

Maybe I missed it in the article, but small business confidence is surging as well.

All necessary ingredients to revive and sustain a vibrant middle class. And make no mistake - we need a healthy middle class.

[Morpheus2009]

We need a healthy middle class. Cannot repeat it enough.

[GailA]

And Fast food joints are looking for Managers who have degrees, not going to happen, they just don’t pay that well. Now a person who has worked their way up can find such a position. Hope it happens fast, Papa John’s franchise decided a month ago to close on a Fri, by Monday store was empty leaving my Manager son with no job and a 16 yr old to support.

He’s a Type 2 Diabetic that is not under control with Neuropathy, works his butt off, but because he’s a male with a child doesn’t qualify for Medicaid, have to be female or Illegal to do that; takes to long to get disability. Paid this months bills out of his income tax check. UE sent his seminar notice a day late. 2 jobs in supervision field. TN law states he has to take a job making min wage if its offered. Can’t live on a little over $7 an hr. And they live very simple as it is.