Confident USA employers post more job openings in May – Business – The Boston

The number of hires was also little changed in May at 5 million. It marked the second month that openings exceeded hiring, which was little changed. “The underlying trend in consumer spending is good”.

The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists projected 5.3 million openings in May after a previously reported 5.38 million a month earlier.

“The sizable drop in the unemployment rate was welcome – at least on the surface – but rather reflects a continued exodus of workers, with almost half a million Americans saying, ‘Right now conditions in the USA labor market are so bad, I’m not going to bother looking for work, ‘” Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Fixed Income, wrote in a research note last week. Job openings decreased over the year in mining and logging. Still, the number of new hires in May and the number of workers who left their job – a sign of strength since quits are generally associated with people finding better jobs – slipped slightly. Hiring increased in retail and leisure and hospitality, but fell in construction, manufacturing and professional and business services. They calculate total hires, as well as quits and layoffs.

The JOLTS data follows the June payrolls report from the Labor Department, which showed job creation advanced while wages stagnated. On Friday, the government said employers added a robust 223,000 jobs in June. Within that separations report, the ever-important quits rate was unchanged at 1.9%.

The job openings rate – a measure of job openings compared with total employment – remained at 3.6% in May. That average has risen just 2 percent over the past 12 months, slightly ahead of core inflation. The quits rate is seen as an indicator of labor market “slack” – or whether the balance of power in the market lies with employers or employees.

Tyson Foods Inc., the largest US chicken processor, is among business expanding their staff. The company in June said it will create 90 jobs at a Kentucky facility.

The stronger confidence among employers hasn’t fully spilled over to workers. It did not say how many shops or jobs will be affected.