The latest labor market green shoot: Job openings soared to their highest level in two years in April, a sign that employers' appetite to hire is steadily improving — even if they aren't quite yet lowering the gangway to bring staff on board.By the numbers: Job openings surged by 731,000 in April — the biggest monthly surge in five years, bringing vacancies to their highest level since 2024.Postings across professional and business services (+668,000), a catch-all category for white-collar work, accounted for most of the surge — a signal that AI does not appear to be sapping demand for traditional office workers.Layoffs fell after two consecutive months of gains. The layoff rate was a remarkably low 1.1% in April, roughly in line with pre-pandemic rates.Yes, but: The hiring strength evident in March reversed sharply, with the rate falling 0.3 percentage point, to 3.2%.The hiring backdrop still looks bleak. The hiring rate is consistent with what the U.S. saw in the 2010s, when unemployment rates were twice as high.The bottom line: "The hiring rate is still low, but at least companies appear to be hunting for talent again," Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote in a note."To put it another way, there are more job openings than unemployed workers for the first time since last June. ... This summer is shaping up to be a tad easier than last summer to find a job," she said.