4/8/2015
By Jennifer Coombs

On Tuesday, April 7th, the market rallied early in the session in the absence of multiple economic releases, however there was one big market mover early on in the session. The Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (or JOLTS) noted that in February 2015, there were 5.133 million job openings which were little changed from the 4.965 million openings in January. However this is the highest level of job openings since January 2001. The number of new hires was also little changed at 4.916 million in February while total separations remained roughly the same as the month prior at 4.650 million. Within the separations component, the all-important quits rate was at 1.9% and the discharges rate was at 1.1% – both were relatively unchanged from the month before. Ultimately, it is very encouraging that the quits rate has returned to pre-recession levels as it is indicative that workers are more comfortable quitting their job knowing that they can easily find a new one. Hiring also continues to be at multi-year highs, but this has yet to translate into a long-term positive trend for the overall employment situation in the U.S.

Jennifer Coombs
Wall Street Strategies

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