Job Openings Steady And Abundant

Job openings held steady at a very abundant 6.082 million in August while hirings remained far behind, at 5.430 million. In an early indication of full employment, the gap between openings and hiring first opened up about 2-1/2 years ago signaling that employers are either not willing to offer high enough pay to fill empty positions and/or are having a hard time finding people with the right skills. At 652,000, the current spread between openings and hirings is one of the very widest on record.

For comparison, the number of job seekers who are out actively pounding the pavement is 6.911 million which is very near the total number of available openings. Today's results offer further evidence that the economy is at full employment and will likely add urgency for further Federal Reserve rate hikes.

Recent History Of This Indicator:
Tight conditions in the labor market are the signals from the labor market's 4.2 percent unemployment rate and are consistent with the JOLTS report. Job openings in the report rose to 6.170 million in July and were far ahead of hirings at 5.501 million. This separation indicates that employers are having a hard time filling slots. Econoday's consensus for August job openings is a steady reading at 6.160 million.