U.S. Job Openings Rose Unexpectedly in December

• U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in December while quits declined slightly, suggesting that labour demand held steady in the month despite a surge in COVID-19 infections and pandemic-related business disruptions. There were 1.7 jobs for every unemployed worker in December. 
• The number of available positions rose to 10.9Mn from an upwardly revised 10.8Mn in November, the Labour Department’s Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed Tuesday. The figure exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. 
• The quits rate was little changed at 2.9% from a record 3% in the prior month, pointing to a high degree of churn in the labour market. 
• The data show that vacancies remained elevated in December, despite temporary business closures at the end of the month due to the spreading omicron variant. While job openings could decline in January, economists expect the impact to be short-lived with employers looking to increase headcount as consumer demand strengthens in the coming months.

(Source: Bloomberg)