Job openings are at record high, but there is a falling number of applicants (following quotes are in italics):*
If the labor market has gotten a little sluggish as of late, it's certainly not because there aren't enough jobs out there.
In fact, job openings in April swelled to a record high, with the government's count showing 6 million positions waiting to be filled. That represented an addition of 259,000, or a 4.5 percent gain, from March, according to the monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Those numbers came during a month that saw nonfarm payrolls grow by 174,000, part of a recent trend that has seen gains slow down after a quick start to the year.
The problems then are: (1) the jobs are not where the people are, and (2) workers don't have the right skills.
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The closely watched quits rate also declined for the month, falling 111,000 to about 3 million. The number is considered an indicator of worker confidence that better jobs are available elsewhere.
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Much of the fall in the jobless rate has come due to a relatively low labor force participation level.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the participation rate has been declining for men, though that also represents an underutilized part of the labor force that could be poised for growth. The rate for men aged 25 to 54 was at 88.4 percent in May, down from as high as 96 percent back in 1970.
But the major part of the job openings are in the accommodation and food service industries. These jobs don't pay enough for people to move to take them. The skills level is harder to fill, but there may be some with the right skills that can't move or won't move to take the jobs. there are indications that the work force is less mobile than it used to be.
* http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/06/there-are-more-job-openings-than-ever-right-now.html
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