WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) – The number of U.S. job
openings fell slightly in March, a fresh sign the labor market
recovery has shifted into a lower gear, government data showed
on Tuesday.
Job openings, a measure of labor demand, fell to 3.844
million during the month, just below the revised reading of
3.899 million for February, the Labor Department said in its
monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.
Hiring also slowed, with the hiring rate dropping to 3.2
percent from 3.3 percent.
The department said last week that employment growth picked
up in April, although recent data has suggested the U.S. labor
market recovery has lost momentum since the end of the first
quarter.
The percentage of workers quitting their jobs fell to 1.6
percent in March from 1.7 percent in February, the Labor
Department said in Tuesday’s report, potentially a sign of
faltering confidence in the labor market.
