Yahoo Finance
job openings slipped in March amid a decline in professional and business services, but a surge in hiring to a more than two-year high suggested the labor market was regaining its footing after struggling in recent months.
The largest increase in hires since the spring of 2020 followed a plunge in February.
Economists said the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran posed a downside risk to the labor market.
Still, the report from the Labor Department on Tuesday reinforced their expectations that the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged into 2027.
The job openings to unemployed ratio was at 0.95 in March.
"Today's reading will be a reassuring sign for the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) that labor demand remained stable into the early stages of the Iran conflict, providing little cause for easing on risk management grounds," said Marc Giannoni, chief U.S.
Job openings, a measure of labor demand, were down 56,000 to 6.866 million by the last day of March, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 6.835 million unfilled jobs.
Vacancies decreased by 318,000 in professional and business services.
There were more job openings in retail, financial activities, healthcare and social assistance sectors.
The job openings rate eased to 4.1% from 4.2% in February.
Hiring jumped by 655,000 to 5.554 million, the highest level since February 2024.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | ▲ +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | ▲ +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | ▲ +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | ▲ +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | ▼ -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | ▲ +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | ▼ -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | ▲ +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | ▼ -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | ▲ +0.92% |
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