Investing.com -- Job openings in the U.S. rose in April, breaking three straight months of declines, in a potential sign of lingering labor market tightness that could impact the Federal Reserve's ongoing fight to corral elevated inflation.
The Labor Department's monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, also known as the JOLTS report, showed that job vacancies totaled 10.1 million on the final day of last month. The figure is higher than the upwardly revised mark of 9.75 million in March and well above forecasts of 9.78 million.
Although the data runs a month behind the nonfarm payrolls report, Fed officials have been keeping a close eye on it as they attempt to gauge price growth.
The U.S. central bank has targeted a softening in the labor market as a key pillar of its long-running campaign of aggressive interest rate rises. The Fed funds rate now stands at between 5.00% to 5.25%, up from near-zero in March 2022.