The "Great Quit" continues in the US: 4.4 million quit

The 5 most in-demand jobs in the US in 2021 1:19

New York (CNN Business) -- 

The shortage of workers has been one of the hallmarks of the pandemic economy, and it's far from over.

In February, US companies had 11.3 million job openings to fill, slightly more than economists had forecast.

The level of available jobs has changed little from the beginning of the year, but is below December's all-time high of 11.4 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. its acronym in English) published this Tuesday.

For every American looking for a job, there were just under 1.8 open positions, matching the December high.

Last month more jobs were available in the arts, entertainment and leisure, educational services and federal government sectors.

Separately, the number of Americans leaving their jobs rose to 4.4 million in February, up slightly from the previous month but down from November's high of 4.5 million.

A greater number of workers quit their jobs in retail sales, manufacturing, and state and local education.

Fewer people left finance and insurance jobs.

Companies hired 6.7 million people in February.

The American job market has come a long way since the early days of the pandemic, when more than 20 million Americans lost their jobs.

For now, it's still going strong.

The next analysis of the employment situation will come on Friday, when the BLS releases the March employment report.

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"Should Friday's payrolls report disappoint, it will be due to a lack of supply of workers to fill available jobs, rather than a demand problem," said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING. .

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The labor shortage has left companies struggling to find staff, despite offering higher wages.

Wages have been rising, supporting consumer spending even amid runaway inflation.

In February, the pace of price increases reached a level not seen in 40 years, according to the latest data from the Consumer Price Index.

"In a service sector economy, the biggest cost is your labor. Given the clear evidence of the pricing power of business, this means that inflation will stay higher for longer as businesses shift higher costs to their customers," Knightley said.

The strength of the labor market, in which many workers who quit their jobs are moving to others with better pay or benefits, contrasts with consumer concerns about rising prices.

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In March, US consumer confidence rose after declines in early 2022, according to data from The Conference Board released on Tuesday.

It's a promising sign that the economy continued to grow in the first three months of the year, said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at The Conference Board.

But there are dark clouds on the horizon.

"Expectations ... weakened further with consumers citing rising prices, especially gasoline, and the war in Ukraine as factors," Franco said.

"Meanwhile, purchase intentions for high-value items such as cars have weakened somewhat in recent months as interest rate expectations have risen."

Jobs in the United States