WASHINGTON -- U.S. employers posted more open positions in February, but the number of people getting hired and the number quitting jobs fell. The overall figures suggest that the job market remains healthy, although it has yet to take off during the early stages of Donald Trump's presidency.
The Labor Department said Tuesday that job openings rose 2.1 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted 5.7 million. While more employers are seeking workers, hiring fell 2 percent compared with January to 5.3 million. Job openings have increased 3.2 percent over the past 12 months.
More than 2.5 million people quit their jobs in February, but that was a sharp 19.6 percent decline from January. This may be a sign that workers have mixed confidence about the economy, since workers typically quit either when they have other jobs, or are optimistic they can find new ones.
An increased pace of job resignations also can raise wages, because most people quit for new jobs at higher pay. It also indicates that employers may be recruiting workers from other jobs by offering bigger paychecks.
The government said Friday that employers added a net total of 98,000 jobs in March. But on average over the past three months, employers have added 178,000 jobs a month -- an average that economists say is closer to the underlying trend.
The unemployment rate in March fell two-tenths of a point to 4.5 percent, the lowest level in almost a decade and a milestone in the long road back from the recession. The rate was 4.7 percent in February.
Those figures are net gains after layoffs, resignations and retirements are subtracted from overall hiring.
Tuesday's data come from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey. They are more detailed and provide a fuller view of the job market than the monthly employment report.
The stock market reaction to the Friday and Tuesday jobs reports was tepid, with stocks essentially flat Tuesday.
Sentiment among consumers and businesses rose after Trump's election, but so far, it has not been matched by a comparable increase in spending by either group.
"We've given up on waiting for hard data to improve," said Rob Martin, an economist at Barclays.
Barclays has said it expects the economy to slow in the first half of 2017, before rebounding modestly in the second half. Given Friday's data "we see downside risk in our already soft expectations for the first half," Martin said.
The consensus view on Wall Street is that the economy expanded at an annual rate of 1 percent last quarter, with the pace of growth in the current second quarter rising to 3.5 percent.
Information for this article was contributed by Nelson D. Schwartz of The New York Times.
Business on 04/12/2017