Job openings and hires were flat in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday in a report on gross job creation that fell short of expectations but could provide reassurance about March’s weak jobs report.
Advertised job vacancies fell slightly in March, from 5.11 million to 4.99 million, adjusting for seasonal fluctuations, according to the Bureau’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
Hires ticked up, from 5.01 million to 5.07 million.
While those numbers were below investors’ expectations, they were far better than the dismal results from the March payrolls data. There were only 85,000 jobs created on net in the month, according to the Bureau’s revised estimates.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey gross hiring data reported Tuesday lags the jobs report data by a month, but it is watched by government officials and investors because it contains additional specific data about the underlying currents in the jobs market.
The Bureau previously reported that payroll gains rebounded from the disappointing 85,000 in March to a healthier 223,000 in April. Tuesday’s results should increase confidence that the April results are more indicative of the strength of U.S. labor markets.
Other details from Tuesday’s report hinted at the possibility that the labor market recovery is gaining strength, or at least not deteriorating.
There were just 1.7 unemployed workers for every advertised job vacancy in March, a ratio that is at the lowest level of the recovery from the recession. There were nearly 7 unemployed workers for each job opening in the depths of the recession in 2009.
The quits rate also inched up, from 1.9 percent to 2 percent. Quits are viewed as a positive indicator, as they show that individual workers have confidence that they will be able to find another job. The long-run average for the quits rate is roughly 2.1 percent.
