![]() The number of new job openings in March decreased to the lowest level since early 2021, according to the latest numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those statistics show that after months of stepped-up demand for jobs in a variety of industries, the market may be returning to a more normal pre-pandemic flow, say analysts. Altogether, new job openings in March stood at just under 9.6 million, a significant drop from the 9.9 million reported by the BLS for February. The decline represents the third month in a row showing a drop in available jobs. Diving deeper, the BLS noted that “job openings decreased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities,” by some 144,000, while showing an increase of 28,000 in the educational services segment. Construction industry job openings were off by 63,000. Compared with where things stood in March of 2022, the number of construction job openings is down by around 72,000. The number of unemployed persons per job opening has been nothing less than a wild roller coaster ride, according to historic BLS figures. In 2008, just before the explosive onslaught of the Great Recession, the number stood at 1.9 million. It then exploded to 5.9 million during the summer of 2009—the worst months of that recession. Between 2009 and 2020, the number of unemployed persons per job opening flowed downward almost gracefully, from 5.9 million in 2009 to 4.4 million in the spring of 2011, and 1.5 million in the spring of 2015. The lowest point was reached in February of 2020, just before Covid 19 changed everything, at around 800,000. That figure then dramatically exploded to just under 5 million in the spring of 2020 and has been gradually decreasing since then. In looking at the most recent numbers, the Financial Times observed that job openings were “lower than economists’ expectations for 9.7 million openings.” Said the New York Times: the “slowdown in the labor market is becoming more entrenched.” By Garry Boulard
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