Recent Updates
- US: Consumer Sentiment (Feb-final), Chicago PMI (Feb),Personal Income, Adv Trade & Inventories (Jan)
- US: Consumer Sentiment Detail (Feb-final)
- Canada: Industrial Product Prices (Jan)
- UK: Motor Vehicle Production (Jan)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Chicago Business Barometer Declines Sharply in February
The ISM-Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer fell 4.3 points in February to 59.5...
Goods Trade Deficit Widened Slightly in January
The advance estimate of the U.S. trade deficit in goods widened slightly to $83.74 billion in January..
Japan's Industrial Sector Mounts a Comeback
Japan's IP surged in January gaining 4.3% compared to December...
Aircraft Orders Boost U.S. Durable Goods Orders in January
Manufacturers' orders for durable goods increased a much larger-than-expected 3.4% m/m (4.5% y/y) in January...
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Increases Again in February
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index rose to 24 in February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller May 8, 2018
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate increased to 4.2% in March from an unrevised 3.9% in February. (The job openings rate is the job openings level as a percent of total employment plus the job openings level.) The hiring rate held steady at 3.7%, down slightly from its cycle peak of 3.8%.
The private sector job openings rate increased m/m to an expansion high of 4.5%. The rate rose to 5.1% in leisure & hospitality, professional & business services and education & health services. The job openings rate in trade, transportation and utilities improved to 4.1% and in construction rose to 3.4%. In the manufacturing sector, the job openings rate eased to 3.0%. The job openings rate in the government sector surged to 2.7%, its highest point since April 2016.
The level of job openings surged 7.8% (16.8% y/y) after falling in February. Private sector openings rebounded 8.0% (16.5% y/y) to 5.928 million. Openings in construction surged 38.5% y/y and increased 26.4% y/y in trade, transportation & utilities. Professional & business services job openings gained 20.6% y/y while leisure & hospitality openings rose 17.0% y/y. Openings in education & health services increased 13.8% y/y, but to the downside were factory sector openings where they eased 0.7% y/y. Openings in government surged 20.3% y/y.
The private sector hiring rate held steady at 4.1%, where it's been for four of the last five months. The rate in professional and business services (5.6%), manufacturing (2.9%) and trade, transportation & utilities (3.8%) remained firm. The hiring rate in leisure & hospitality fell to 6.3%, and in education & health services, it dropped to 2.8%. The government sector hiring rate held steady at 1.5%, about where it's been since late 2016.
Total hiring increased 2.4% y/y. Hiring in the private sector increased 2.7% y/y led by a 13.5% y/y gain in professional & business services jobs. Factory sector hiring rose 12.7% y/y but construction sector employment declined 11.7% y/y. Leisure & hospitality hiring improved 0.7% y/y while the number of education & health services workers eased 1.8% y/y. Hiring in the public sector declined 2.4% y/y.
The overall job separations rate rose m/m to 3.6%, about where it's been since 2015. It held at a low 3.9% in the private sector and was steady at 1.5% in government. The level of overall separations rose 2.3% y/y.
The level of layoffs declined 6.3% y/y and left the layoff rate at the record low of 1.1%. In the private sector, the layoff rate held at 1.2% and dipped to 0.4% in the public sector.
The Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) survey dates to December 2000 and the figures are available in Haver's USECON database.
JOLTS (Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey, SA) | Mar | Feb | Jan | Mar'17 | Mar '16 | Mar'15 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Job Openings, Total | ||||||
Rate (%) | 4.2 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
Total (000s) | 6,550 | 6,078 | 6,228 | 5,607 | 5,944 | 5,183 |
Hires, Total | ||||||
Rate (%) | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
Total (000s) | 5,425 | 5,507 | 5,574 | 5,297 | 5,297 | 5,078 |
Layoffs & Discharges, Total | ||||||
Rate (%) | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
Total (000s) | 1,564 | 1,620 | 1,784 | 1,669 | 1,745 | 1,906 |