Job postings in the U.S. are at their highest level since 2000, government data shows. Employment website Indeed reports that the postings are nearly 26 percent above levels from before the pandemic.
May saw 559,000 new jobs, well above the 278,000 added by employers in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rise in job postings coincides with a rising demand for workers after the economy's annual growth rate hit 6.4 percent last quarter.
The unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent from 6.1 percent, the Associated Press reported. Nela Richardson, chief economist at payroll company ADP, said that May's job growth was "more lackluster" than what was expected, "given the strong state of economic growth."
"There is a gap between the economy and labor market," she said.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below:
Consumers are opening their wallets. In April, they increased their spending after a huge gain in March that was fueled by the distribution of $1,400 stimulus checks. With more Americans feeling comfortable about staying in hotels and visiting entertainment venues, spending on services jumped.
In fact, service industries, including banking, retail, and shipping, expanded at the fastest pace on record in May. The evidence suggests that consumers have begun to embark on a long-anticipated shift away from the sizable goods purchases that many of them had made while hunkered down at home to spending on services, from haircuts to sporting events to vacation trips.
The number of people seeking unemployment aid has fallen for five straight weeks to its lowest level since the pandemic began, a sign that layoffs are dwindling. There are still 15 million people receiving either federal or state jobless aid, though that number has also declined from roughly 20 million in February.
The fading of the pandemic produced a disconnect between companies and the unemployed. While businesses are rushing to add workers immediately, many of the unemployed are either seeking better jobs than they had before the pandemic, still lack affordable child care, worry about contracting COVID-19 or have decided to retire early.
That mismatch resulted in the sharp slowdown in hiring in April, when employers added far fewer jobs than economists had forecast and many fewer than had been hired in March.
Though the economy still has 7.6 million fewer jobs than it did before the pandemic struck, job postings in late May were nearly 26 percent above pre-pandemic levels, according to the employment website Indeed. Government data shows that posted jobs have reached their highest level on record dating back to 2000.
Many businesses blame a $300-a-week federal unemployment benefit for discouraging some of the jobless from taking work. Republican governors in 25 states have responded by cutting off that benefit prematurely, starting this month, before the benefits are scheduled to end nationally on September 6.
Becky Frankiewicz, president of the temporary staffing firm Manpower Group's North American division, said many of the firm's clients are raising pay and benefits to try to attract more applicants. Some of these companies, particularly in manufacturing and warehousing, are also trying other tactics, like paying their workers weekly or even daily, rather than every two weeks. Manpower is also encouraging its clients to make job offers the same day as an interview rather than waiting.
About 60 percent of Manpower's temporary placements are leaving their jobs before a temporary assignment ends, Frankiewicz said, mostly because they are receiving better offers.
"People have options," she said. "Companies have to offer speed in cash, speed to hire and a lot of flexibility in how they work."
For now, though, there are signs that many of the unemployed remain cautious about seeking jobs.
On Thursday, Tony Sarsam, CEO of SpartanNash, a grocery distributor and retailer, said on a conference call with investors that the company took part last month in a job fair with 60 companies that had 500 jobs to fill.
"Only four candidates showed up," Sarsam said.
