US job openings little changed in March, quits continue to retreat

According to the Department of Labor, in seasonally adjusted terms the number of job openings dropped at a month-on-month pace pf 3.7% to reach 8.488m - their lowest level in more than three years.

Economists had penciled-in a drop to roughly 8.69m.

However, the prior month's level of job openings had been revised up from 8.756m to 8.813m.

The number of hires meanwhile fell by 3.5% to 5.5m.

Significantly, the proportion of people voluntarily leaving their jobs in search of others - or quits - reduced further, from 2.2% to 2.1%, the least since August 2020.

"The Federal Reserve will welcome signs of cooler labor market conditions, but the JOLTS data do not change our view that the central bank will be content to keep interest rates at current levels until September," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead US economist at Oxford Economics.

"The Fed will need to see several months of lower inflation readings to be confident inflation is on a sustainable path to 2%."