The US labor market continues to show resilience! Job vacancies in May were higher than expected, with steady demand for recruitment by enterprises.

In May, the number of job vacancies in the United States remained relatively stable, higher than market expectations, indicating that despite lingering inflationary pressures, business hiring demand remains strong, and the job market overall continues to show resilience. According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday, the number of job vacancies in May rose slightly to 7.59 million, slightly higher than the revised April level, and also higher than the economists' survey expected 7.3 million. By industry, job vacancies in the construction industry and leisure and hospitality industry increased slightly. Job vacancies in the professional and business services industry remained basically the same, after contributing nearly all of the job vacancy growth in April. In contrast, job vacancies in the financial activities industry continued to decline. Analysts pointed out that the financial industry has been one of the main factors dragging down US employment growth this year. The latest data, along with other recent employment indicators, corroborate each other, showing that the momentum of the US labor market has strengthened. Despite a brief increase in energy prices during the Iran conflict pushing up inflation, weakening consumer confidence, and eroding some real wage growth, overall consumer spending remains resilient, with a relatively limited impact on business hiring demand. The report shows that the quit rate, a measure of employees' willingness to voluntarily leave their jobs, remained unchanged at 1.9%, indicating that workers' willingness to switch jobs is relatively stable. At the same time, the number of layoffs increased slightly, but the number of hires remained basically unchanged, with little change in the overall supply and demand situation in the job market. Another indicator closely monitored by the Federal Reserve, the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed persons, also remained around 1:1, similar to April. This ratio reached 2:1 during the tightest labor market in 2022. Analysts believe that this stable ratio indicates that the supply and demand relationship in the current US labor market is gradually returning to a more balanced state. Recently released initial jobless claims data also show no signs of widespread layoffs in the US. Although companies such as Uber Technologies, Inc., Robinhood, and Microsoft Corporation have announced layoff plans recently, overall layoffs remain relatively limited. The market will now focus on the US government's release of the June non-farm payroll report on Thursday. Economists generally expect the US to add about 110,000 jobs in June, which will provide more clues on whether the US labor market will continue to show resilience. Furthermore, data released by job site Indeed shows that the job recruitment index recorded the largest two-week increase so far this year in mid-June, although overall recruitment activity remains relatively moderate. On the same day, another data release showed that due to a fall in gasoline prices, US consumer confidence saw a slight increase in June, providing some support for consumer demand.