The monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report for April as released by the Labor Department has shocked everyone alike. The previous 4.1% unemployment rate fell to a 3.9%, which highlights the growing competition in the industry. The number of job openings has also reached its a record high during the last month. A brief overview of the numbers will help get a clearer picture.
- The unemployment rate just went down to 3.9%, lowest since 2000.
- More than 164,000 jobs were created in the last month.
- The per hour average earning has risen by 4 cents, which is 2.6% more than the last year wages.
The drop in the unemployment rate can be explained by the contraction that the labor force witnessed last month. With this, the wages have increased and the inflation is on a rise.
While the job openings rose by a record-breaking 4.2%, the number of people hired fell from 5.5 million to 5.4 million. According to the reports, this trend is a result of a mismatch in the skill set requirement. In fact, skill mismatch has been labeled as the “single most important problem” for the businesses, especially the small ones.
There is an additional opening of 112,000 in professional services. Reputed US recruitment consultants are hiring experienced CEOs and CIOs from foreign countries to fill up the managerial job positions. More emphasis is being put on the workers skills’ than other factors. With such a trend, the job market is expected to grow and expand to even newer scales.
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