According to the Labor Department’s new Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary report, 4 million people left their jobs in April, with the biggest losses seen in retail trade; professional and business services; and transportation, warehousing and utilities.
As CNBC reports: “Job seekers have a strong hand in the labor market,” says Nick Bunker, an economist with the jobs site Indeed. “Across the country, employers are staffing up to prepare for renewed summer activity as vaccination rates increase and Covid-19 case rates go down. As a result, there’s lots of opportunity for job seekers—a record 9.3 million job openings in April—where workers have the upper hand to negotiate for higher pay, more consistent hours or better accommodations. Some workers may realize their current job, or one they picked up during the unemployment crisis, is no longer a good fit, and they’re able to move on to something better,” Bunker adds.
Though some economic observers expect the labor market to tighten once federal unemployment benefits end in September, “Indeed’s data indicates the share of national job search activity in four states ending federal UI on June 12—Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi and Missouri—is actually lower today than it was in late April,” CNBC reports.
