US Job Market Surprises with Increased Openings in May

• U.S. job openings unexpectedly increased in May, but a decline in hiring added to signs that the labour market had shifted into lower gear amid uncertainty over the Trump administration's tariffs on imports, with a 90-day pause on higher reciprocal duties ending.
• Job openings, a measure of labour demand, were up 374,000 to 7.77Mn by the last day of May, the Labour Department's Bureau of Labour Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 7.30Mn vacancies.
• Economists were mostly dismissive of the surprise rise in job openings, noting that the bulk of the increase was in the leisure and hospitality sector. Hiring, however, decreased by 112,000 to 5.50Mn, with declines concentrated in healthcare and social assistance, manufacturing, as well as professional and business services. But hiring surged by 107,000 in accommodation and food services. Ultimately, the hire rate fell to 3.4% from 3.5%.
• Economists said the JOLTS report suggested the Federal Reserve could wait until September to resume cutting interest rates. The U.S. central bank last month left its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range, where it has been since December.

(Source: Reuters)