WASHINGTON—April witnessed an unexpected rise in U.S. job openings, reflecting a resilient labor market despite the ongoing uncertainty brought by trade conflicts initiated by President Donald Trump.
The Labor Department’s latest report, released on Tuesday, revealed that employers listed 7.4 million job vacancies in April, an increase from the 7.2 million recorded in March. Economists had anticipated that the number of job openings would fall to around 7.1 million.
However, despite this increase in job vacancies, the number of Americans voluntarily leaving their jobs—a sign of confidence in job prospects—decreased, while layoffs saw a slight rise. This suggests that the labor market may have cooled since the hiring surge experienced between 2021 and 2023. Notably, the report highlighted that there was roughly one job available for each unemployed individual. Compare this to December 2022, when there were two vacancies for every job seeker.
Although job openings remain high when viewed from a historical perspective, they have significantly declined from the peak of 12.1 million in March 2022 during the economic recovery from COVID-19 lockdowns.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary from the Labor Department did not show significant reductions in the federal workforce due to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiatives. Instead, openings for federal positions increased to 134,000 in April from 121,000 in March, with federal layoffs decreasing to 4,000 from 8,000 the previous month.
Despite a slowdown, the American job market has displayed resilience amid the higher interest rates implemented by the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023 as a measure against rising inflation.
The broader economic landscape remains uncertain, heavily influenced by Trump’s policies such as hefty import tariffs, federal workforce reductions, and deportations of undocumented workers.
Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, commented that the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) indicates companies are cautiously observing the outcomes of Trump’s policies. He noted, “Once companies are convinced that challenging economic conditions are imminent, they may begin to reduce their workforce. However, with the economy still near full employment, businesses appear to be holding on to their employees until they are entirely convinced of a downturn.”
The Labor Department is anticipated to disclose this Friday that employers added approximately 130,000 jobs in the last month, a decline from the 177,000 jobs added in April. Forecasters surveyed by the data firm FactSet predict that the unemployment rate will remain steady at a low 4.2%.