Official data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that was released on Tuesday showed that companies advertised fewer jobs in April, however this came as the overall speed of hiring quickened and the number of workers who left their jobs jumped, The Associated Press reports.
According to the news source, the recent data showed that job openings slid 3 percent in April to 3.75 million, while the overall hiring climbed by about 5 percent to 4.4 million. The number of people who left their current job - potentially to seek out a better, higher-paying position - rose by 7.2 percent to 2.25 million. A rise in job quits indicates workers are more confident that they can find a new job, or perhaps, they even have new jobs lined up.
But despite the strong report, many experts still say the data on the whole is about the same as what was seen in February, and hiring and quits are still lower than they were before the recession took hold. Before December 2007, total hiring hit 5 million in some months, while the number of people who quit in these months usually hovered around 2.8 million.
What this does indicate, the news source stated, is that the job market is still an extremely competitive place for anyone currently looking for a job. For every open position in April, there were 3.1 unemployed people. This is higher than what economists consider to be an acceptable ratio of about 2 to 1.
According to Bloomberg, analysts agree the labor market is certainly getting better, albeit at a crawl.
"It's slow, grinding improvement," said Joe LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities, adding that the sequester's effects are just about over. "We're probably in the worst of it, if not this month then next month."
