If job openings are an indication of the economy’s strength, yesterday’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTs) report is confirmation of economic strength. Job openings reached another record high of 7.136 million. Compared to last August’s openings of 6.044 million, openings are up 18.1% on a year over year basis.
The timing of the unemployment data is one month ahead of the JOLTs data, however, the number of unemployed looking for work is 1.172 million lower than job openings. This is hard evidence that labor is a scare resource at the moment. This is not the type of data output that occurs in a recessionary environment.
