JOLTs: Continued Tight Labor Markets

Bottom Line:  Job openings were mostly steady in February, holding near record highs even after annual revisions to the data. Amid more reopenings in services sectors, job openings rose in the arts and entertainment and educational services. Amid historic job openings, employees continued to feel comfortable voluntarily leaving jobs. The quit rate held near record levels as quits increased in retail trade, durable goods manufacturing, and state and local government education. Overall, these data suggest that the labor market remained very tight, with job openings falling only slightly from the record levels in 2021. The pace of hiring remained robust as employers struggled to fill openings with qualified candidates, and existing employees continued to feel emboldened to quit for better prospects.Job Openings FELL by 17k in February to 11.266 million, compared with market expectations for an increase to 11.000 million. Government job openings ROSE by 33k. Consequently, private-sector job openings FELL by 50k. Over the past 12 months, there were 3,406k more job openings.
 
Job Hires ROSE by 263k in February to 6.689 million. Over the past 12 months, there were 661k more job hires. Job Separations ROSE by 48k in February to 6.092 million. Over the past 12 months, there were 692k more job separations.
                 
The Hires to Job openings ratio ROSE by 0.024 points from 0.570 to 0.594 and is modestly below its 12 month average of 0.614. The Number of Unemployed to Job openings ratio FELL by 0.02 points from 0.58 to 0.56 and is sharply below its 12 month average of 0.78.