JOLTS reviewed: stronger than expected - Nomura

Analysts at Nomura explained the JOLTS reviewed.

Key Quotes:

"Job openings were 5757k (Consensus: 5450k) in March following a revised 5608k in February (previously reported as 5445k).

The stronger-than-expected job openings in March pushed the job opening rate up to 3.9%, the highest since July 2015. Also, the job opening rate in February was revised higher to 3.8% from 3.7%.

These job opening numbers paint a better picture on labor demand than other measures recently. But note that the JOLTS report lags by two months so it is possible that we see some weakness in April, especially given the weak jobs report received last Friday.

Although openings picked up in March, actual hiring slowed to 5292k from 5510k, bringing the hiring rate down to 3.7% from 3.8%.

Separations were also down. It appears that labor market “churn” slowed in March, but these flow measures tend to be volatile so it is likely some of the drop is due to month-to-month noise."