US businesses are brushing off those “Now Hiring” signs: Job postings rose sharply in April to their highest level in nearly two years, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed Tuesday.
The number of available jobs jumped to an estimated 7.62 million positions at the end of April, increasing from 6.89 million in March and bucking a two-month decline, the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed.
Tuesday’s data, which could indicate a resurgence in demand for workers could provide further reassurance that the US labor market is not only stabilizing but possibly expanding.
Economists were expecting that job postings would shrink for the third month in a row, falling slightly to 6.8 million from March’s initially reported estimate of 6.87 million, according to FactSet estimates.
The labor market churn – the inflow and outflow of workers – has slowed significantly in the past two years due to a confluence of dynamics, including the aging (and retiring) of workers, a post-pandemic hiring normalization, the emergence of new technologies, increasing economic uncertainty and sharp reductions in immigration.
