Hiring Surge Ends Yearlong Labor Market Slump

The number of hires increased to 5.6 million in March, a figure that was 655,000 higher than the previous month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in a Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) report released Tuesday (May 5).

The BLS highlighted 165,000 new hires in professional and business services, 124,000 in accommodation and food services, and 108,000 in transportation, warehousing and utilities. There were 7,000 fewer hires in federal government than there were a month earlier.

Reuters reported Tuesday that the surge in hires reported by the BLS for March marked a turnaround from a plunge seen in February and amounted to the highest level of hires since February 2024 and the biggest increase in hires since May 2020.

Axios reported that the industries that saw the greatest increases in hiring during the month are cyclical sectors that are tied to underlying private sector activity. The report said that is a welcome sign for the broader economy.

CNBC reported that the pickup in hiring may signal an improvement in a job market that has been stuck in a “low hire, low fire” trend for more than a year.

ADP reported April 1 that the private sector added 62,000 jobs in March. Reporting on findings from the ADP National Employment Report, ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said: “Overall hiring is steady, but job growth continues to favor certain industries, including health care. In March, this solid performance was accompanied by a boost in pay gains for job-changers.”

The BLS also reported in its Tuesday JOLTS report that total separations were little changed in March at 5.4 million. Among the different sorts of separations, the number of quits was little changed at 3.2 million, the number of layoffs and discharges was little changed at 1.9 million, and the number of other separations increased by 76,000 to 339,000.

The number of job openings was unchanged in March, remaining at about 6.9 million on the last day of the month, the BLS said.

There were variations by industry. Professional and business services saw the number of job openings decrease by 318,000 during the month, while finance and insurance saw an increase of 98,000, according to the JOLTS report.