But decreased in transportation and warehousing sectors

According to data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, job openings and quits in the US reached record highs in March.

Job openings were up by 205,000 to 11.5 million, the highest since records began in December 2000 while job openings in March increased in a number of industries, led by increases of 155,000 in “retail trade” and 50,000 in “durable goods manufacturing.”

However, the opposite happened in certain industries with the number of job openings decreasing in transportation, warehousing, and utilities by 69,000; in state and local government education by 43,000; and in federal government by 20,000.

Separations rose by 239,000. However, the quits component of separations reached a record high of 4.5 million. Quits increased by 88,000 in “professional and business services” and by 69,000 in the construction sector, fuelling the Great Resignation debate even further.

Meanwhile, according to released stats, the figures for hires hardly changed at 6.7 million while those for total separations edged up to 6.3 million.

There is much churn in the US market but still a large number of job openings which indicates the talent shortages are far from over.