The BLS released their Job Opening and Labor Turnover Report and it still shows 11.4 million jobs open. This is a decrease from the last report but it’s like saying the ocean lost a few gallons of water.
The number of job openings decreased to 11.4 million on the last business day of April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires and total separations were little changed at 6.6 million and 6.0 million, respectively. Within separations, quits were little changed at 4.4 million, while layoffs and discharges edged down to a series low of 1.2 million. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector, by industry, and by establishment size class. Job Openings On the last business day of April, the number and rate of job openings decreased to 11.4 million (-455,000) and 7.0 percent, respectively. The largest decreases in job openings were in health care and social assistance (-266,000), retail trade (-162,000), and accommodation and food services (-113,000). The largest increases were in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+97,000); nondurable goods manufacturing (+67,000); and durable goods manufacturing (+53,000). (See table 1.)
Healthcare dropped in job opening and it’s not surprising given that Covid is finally dying down for the most part across the country. On the flip side, transportation, warehousing and utilities are still growing strong.
As for our investment portfolio, we are still waiting for the next FOMC meeting to make any moves but always on the lookout for extreme bargains.
Stay tuned and stay solvent.