US labor market remains strong, level of slack continues to be quite low

US Labor Department released its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data for March. According to the data, total job openings in the US increased to 5.76 million in March, up by 149k from February’s upwardly revised level of 5.61 million. Most of the rise was seen in business services and professional that increased by 124k. Meanwhile, retail trade employment openings dropped 80k. In all, the rate of job openings was up by one-tenth to 3.9%. It has returned to its post-recession high.

In March, hiring decelerated slightly. It dropped 218k to 5.29 million as several service-providing industries reversed some of the solid hiring activity recorded in February. This resulted in the hiring rate to decline to 3.7%, falling by one-tenth. Total separations dropped 114k to 5.05 million in March mainly due to fewer layoffs. Labor market sentiment is gauged by the quits rate, which remained at 2.1% in March.

March’s JOLTS data shows that slack in the labor market was almost unchanged from February. The total number of openings against per unemployed worker was 1.38. The latest JOLTS data shows that the labor markets in the US continue to be strong through the end of the first quarter of 2016 and also that the slack level is very low, said Barclays.