The number of job openings fell for the second month in a row in May, although they were still at high levels.
Openings across all sectors dropped to 11.3 million in May, down from 11.7 million the month before, according to data released on Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The previous record number of job openings was notched in March, which was upwardly revised to 11.9 million.
The largest decreases in job openings were in professional and business services, durable goods manufacturing, and nondurable goods manufacturing.
The numbers come as the Federal Reserve keeps jacking up interest rates more aggressively and tightening its monetary policy to combat explosive inflation. The central bank raised rates by a half percentage point in May and then took the even more aggressive step of hiking rates by three-fourths of a percentage point in June — the most ambitious upward hike since 1994.
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The Fed’s action is designed to slow spending and drive down prices. Some economists have complained that the Fed isn’t moving fast enough and point to hot spots in the economy, such as the still high number of job openings, as evidence.
Wednesday’s report also showed that the rate of people quitting their jobs was little changed from the month before.
Layoffs were at 1.4 million, which shows employers are desperate to hang on to workers in the tight labor market environment.
“This is not what a recession looks like,” said Nick Bunker, director of economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab. “Demand is still very elevated, with 11.3 million job openings at the end of May. Workers are still quitting their jobs at elevated rates, and layoffs are still very low.”
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“Clouds can move in quickly and darken the outlook for the U.S. labor market, but for now, the sun is still shining,” he added, noting that the report lags the current state of the labor market, given it looks at data from May.
The report comes after the economy beat expectations and added 428,000 jobs in May, another sign that the labor market is still quite robust despite the soaring inflation and a contraction of gross domestic product in the first quarter. Monthly payroll jobs are noted in a separate report from the bureau.
