Job Openings Decline Slightly

Job openings decline slightly in April, but remain some of the highest ever recorded.

By Nate Griffin - Tuesday, June 1st, 2022

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest numbers for April's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Tuesday.

The number of job openings fell to 11.4 million, a decline of 455,000. Healthcare and retail fell by the largest amounts, but openings in transportation and manufacturing grew by 97,000 and 67,000 respectively.

4.4 million people quite their job in April, little changed from last month. But, about 0.8 million (22 percent) more than before the pandemic.

1.2 million people were laid off, a slight decline from the previous month. Layoffs remain at lower levels than before the pandemic, despite recent news about large scale downsizing at tech companies.

Despite the 6 million people who left their jobs in April, 6.6 million were hired into new rolls. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.6 percent.

There are now more than 2 jobs for every unemployed person in the US. This job market is radically different from the time during the 2008 financial crisis when many millennials were entering the workforce. During that time there were nearly seven times more job seekers than jobs.