Job openings in April rose to their highest level since January. The resilient labor market data adds to a growing narrative that continuously strong economic data could prompt the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates again in June.
The latest Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTs report, released Wednesday revealed 10.1 million job openings at the end of April, an increase from the 9.8 reported in March. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 9.4 million openings in April.
The strong number of openings adds to the largely resilient data that’s come in since the last Federal Reserve meeting and has markets pricing in another interest rate hike in June.
Market pricing for a rate hike in June shot up after the Wednesday’s JOLTS report. Entering the day, markets had priced in a less than 60% chance of a hike in June. About 15 minutes after the report, markets had priced in a 71% chance of a hike, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
“After falling throughout Q1, job openings surprised to the upside in April, signaling that the tightness in the labor market is unlikely to fall off a cliff but rather continue downward on a bumpy path,” Oxford Economics wrote in a note on Wednesday. “While there are some concerns over the veracity of the JOLTS survey due to historically low response rates, the upshot remains that labor market strength remains robust. That will leave the Fed on pause through the end of the year as officials look to ensure a cooling in jobs demand.”
Market pricing for a rate hike in June shot up after the Wednesday’s JOLTS report. Entering the day, markets had priced in a less than 60% chance of a hike in June. About 15 minutes after the report, markets had priced in a 71% chance of a hike, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Click here to read the full report from Josh Schafer at Yahoo Finance.
