U.S. JOB OPENINGS REACH RECORD HIGH IN MARCH, DESPITE MILLIONS REMAINING OUT OF WORK

U.S. job openings surged to a record high in March, further evidence that a shortage of workers was hampering job growth, even as nearly 10 million Americans are looking for employment.

The Labour Department’s monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday also showed layoffs dropping to a record low in March.

The report could put pressure on the White House to review government-funded unemployment benefits programs, including a US$300 weekly supplement, which pay more than most minimum-wage jobs.

The benefits were extended until early September as part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s US$1.9trillion COVID-19 pandemic relief package approved in March. Alabama, Montana and South Carolina are ending government-funded pandemic unemployment benefits for residents next month. Those benefits cover the self-employed, gig workers and others who do not qualify for the regular state unemployment insurance programs.

“As more restrictions are lifted throughout the country, more businesses are opening up,” said Sophia Koropeckyj, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pa. “However, there seems to be a mismatch between businesses’ eagerness to return to some semblance of prepandemic normality and many workers’ hesitation to step back into the work force.”

Job openings, a measure of labour demand, jumped 597,000 to 8.1 million on the last day of March, the highest since the series began in December, 2000. The surge was led by the accommodation and food services sector, with 185,000 vacancies opening up. There were an additional 155,000 job openings in state and local government education.