Job Openings Jump In March

The JOLTS report offers upbeat news on the economy with job openings jumping to 5.757 million in March from February's upwardly revised 5.608 million, boosting the job openings rate 1 tenth to 3.9 percent. And employers, as indicated in this morning's small business optimism report, may be having trouble filling the openings as the hiring rate fell 1 tenth to 3.7 percent. The quits rate is unchanged at 2.1 percent to indicate that workers are showing limited inclination to shift jobs. Similarly, employers are showing limited inclination to cut jobs as the layoffs rate fell 1 tenth to 1.2 percent. The labor market, despite economic slowing, remains the nation's chief strength.