Steady labor market

May 5, 2026

Job openings were flat in March. There were 6.9 million jobs available at the end of the month, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Openings were nearly unchanged compared to a year ago.

The ratio of job openings to unemployed job seekers, a measure of balance in the labor market tracked closely by Federal Reserve officials, ticked up to 0.95 in March from 0.91 in February. It has been between 0.9 and 1 for over a year. That points to a relatively stable labor market.

Real-time data from Indeed Hiring Lab show that the number of advertised job postings leveled out in April after declining in March. Postings were roughly flat from September to the end of April. 

Job openings declined in professional and business services by 318,000 in March; that is the fourth largest monthly decline since the data were first collected in 2000. Layoffs also rose, but hires posted the largest monthly gain (+165,000) since 2023 and the number of quits ticked up. Because JOLTS reports the industry as a whole, we cannot tell if fewer openings and more layoffs occurred in higher‑paid professional jobs or lower‑paid support roles.

In February, large swings in accommodation and food services pushed down the overall job openings, hiring and quits rates. The data reverted in March, as openings, hires and quits all rose. The monthly JOLTS data are noisy. Be wary of drawing definitive conclusions from one month of data.

The hiring rate rose to 3.5% in March from 3.1% in February. On a three-month moving average basis, it stayed flat at 3.3% for the eighth straight month. Monthly fluctuations conceal a stable trend. 

Layoffs increased to 1.2% from 1.1%. They were flat at 1.1% on a three-month moving average basis. The increase in layoffs in professional and business services drove the monthly rise, but this could be noise. 

Quits remained flat at 2% on a three-month moving average basis for the fourth straight month. Quits have been between 1.9% and 2.1% since May 2024 on a three-month moving average basis. This lack of churn is affecting workers’ outlook on the labor market. Yet pay growth for job changers rose to 6.6% in March from a multi-year low of 6.3% in February.