June 4 (UPI) — U.S. Job openings in declined by more than anticipated in April, falling to pandemic-era lows.
The monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey showed job openings fell to 8.06 million, a decline of 300,000 from March and 1.8 million from April 2023.
The Labor Department saw job opening increases in private educational services at 50,000 but decreases in healthcare and social assistance with 204,000 and local government at 59,000.
The total number of job openings was the lowest since February 2021.
Job separations were little changed from March, holding near 5.4 million, led by a 49,000 separations increase in durable goods manufacturing.
The number of quits, those voluntarily leaving their jobs, was 3.5 million, with the rate remaining at 2.2% for the sixth straight month.
Quits decreased in professional and business services by 131,000 but increased in other services by 67,000 and state and local government education by 32,000.
Hires moved slightly higher to 5.6 billion as the rate held at 3.6%.
Combined, the data on quits and hires signaled a sense of confidence among workers to leave their jobs and move to new positions elsewhere.
Layoffs and discharges were also relatively steady at 1.5 million with a rate of 1%.
The report said that the number of job openings for March was revised down 133,000 to 8.4 million while the number of hires was revised up by 117,000 to 5.6 million, with total separation being revised up 130,000.