By Jeffry Bartash
Businesses appear to be hiring again after big dropoff late last year
Job seekers have to do lots of work these days to find employment.
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The number of U.S. job openings jumped to a two-year high of 7.6 million in April, a surprising increase that suggest businesses are ready to hire more people after big slowdown in job creation last year.
Job openings rose to the highest level since May 2024. They had fallen to a post-pandemic low of 6.55 million at the end of last year, government statistics showed.
The number of people hired in April also climbed to a two-year peak, while the rate of layoffs clung near an all-time low.
Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA and the S&amp;P 500 SPX fell slightly in Tuesday trading, but stocks hovered close to record highs.
-Jeffry Bartash
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-02-26 1010ET

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U.S. job openings surged to a two-year high of 7.6 million in April, signaling a thawing labor market after a late-year slowdown. Hiring also reached a two-year peak, while layoffs remained near all-time lows. Despite this positive economic data, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices fell slightly during Tuesday trading but stayed close to record highs.

A frozen labor market might be thawing out: U.S. job openings and hiring leap to 2-year high