Job Openings Hit Record High

Crazy stat courtesy of Peter Boockvar at the Lindsey Group…

July saw a new record high in the amount of US job openings. They totaled 5.87mm in the month, about 240k more than expected and up from 5.64mm in June. The level of hiring’s rose to a 4 month high but are 63k below that March level when there was 200k less job openings. This again points to the supply side (or lack thereof) of the labor market remaining a drag on faster growth as the demand is there for more hiring. We know very low participation rates are reflective of this and we can all debate on why that is. Below is the chart of the participation rate of 25-54 year olds, the core age group for prime workers. For those not participating, what are these people doing every day? Collecting disability checks and food stamps, don’t have the proper skills, have cash jobs or something else?

Good question, Peter. Experience tells me an out of work construction worker still sees himself as a construction worker even in the presence of jobs in other fields that the worker may look as being “lesser than” his original vocation. These things take time, I suppose.

Source:

Peter Boockvar
Managing Director, Chief Market Analyst
The Lindsey Group LLC