US JOLTS Job Openings decline below expectations

The number of job openings on the last business day of April stood at 8.059 million, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) on Tuesday. This reading followed the 8.35 million (revised from 8.48 million) openings reported in March and came in below the market expectation of 8.34 million.

The US Dollar Index, which tracks the US Dollar’s performance against a basket of six major currencies, declined from daily highs with the immediate reaction and was last seen clinging to small daily gains at 104.15.

“Over the month, both the number of hires and total separations were little changed at 5.6 million and 5.4 million, respectively,” the BLS noted in its press release. “Within separations, quits (3.5 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.5 million) changed little.”