Bad News for Job Hunters

The latest jobs report was released this week and did not bring the best of news for job seekers. U.S. businesses added 152,000 new jobs in the month of May. Which sounds like a large number, but is actually the smallest increase in 2024 thus far. 

The Wall Street Journal had predicted a number of 175,000 - so May fell short of expectations for new job opportunities. Furthermore, CNN reported that the number of job openings (not just NEW jobs) shrank for the second consecutive month, setting a new three-year low. 

There were 8.06 million available jobs posted in April, which is the lowest since February, 2021. That number decreased from 8.36 million available jobs in the previous month. The 8.06M figure is also lower than predicted. Meanwhile, the ratio of available jobs per job seeker (1.2) is also the lowest ratio since June 2021. All of this indicates a slowdown in hiring.

Combing through the data from the ADP job report, 149,000 of the 152,000 new jobs were in the service industry, led by trade/transportation/utilities (55,000). Education and health services were second with 46,000 jobs added, while financial activities was third with 28,000 new jobs. 

The South led the way regionally in terms of new jobs added with 101,000 of the 152,000. On the flip side, the Pacific West decreased by 18,000(!), while New England decreased by 1,000 new jobs.

That’s a lot of numbers to throw at you, so we won’t hold it against you if you have to reread all of this, much like when trying to focus on a book before bed, and constantly having to reread the same sentence over and over. To summarize, things are still not great for those looking for new (or better) jobs. Especially if you live out west. And it continues to trend in that direction.