US job openings increased to 5.78 million in April, matching an all-time high, according to data published the Labor Department. The report also showed that the number of hires fell in April for the second month in a row to 5.1 million, well below the nine-year high of 5.5 million set in February. Analysts say that companies are having trouble filling open positions with qualified candidates. Health care and social services offered the highest number of open positions. The report follows last week’s update on payrolls for May, which reflected a sharp slowdown in employment growth. “It could be that what we are seeing in the labor market is simply the transition to a more moderate pace of job growth,” Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama, wrote in a research note via Bloomberg. “Such transitions, however, are not guaranteed to be smooth.”
Mortgage applications in the US rebounded in the week through June 3, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports. The update delivers “good news,” notes HousingWire, “given that the housing market struggled to take off this spring.”
The US stock market continues to rise, as famed hedge-fund manager George Soros returns to trading with bearish bets.