Employment vacancies unexpectedly rose in April, reaffirming the health of the U.S. labor market.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS), job openings climbed by 191,000 to 7.391 million, from the upwardly revised 7.2 million in March.
The consensus forecast indicated a reading of 7.1 million.
The largest increases were observed in arts, entertainment, and recreation (43,000) and mining and logging (10,000). Conversely, the number of job vacancies decreased in accommodation and food services (negative 135,000) and state and local government (51,000).
Over the last 12 months, job openings have declined by more than 200,000.
Several surveys have indicated that companies are struggling to fill their positions….