“Avatar: The Way of Water” is still drawing audiences at the domestic box office, maintaining a substantial lead against competition as it looks to maintain the No. 1 spot for a fifth weekend.
Disney and 20th Century Studios’ science-fiction smash added $7 million from 4,035 locations on Friday, bolstering its total domestic total to an impressive $538.8 million. The film is looking to add roughly $36 million through the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. For the three-day frame ending Sunday, “Avatar 2” is projecting a drop of roughly 36% from last weekend.
Certainly “The Way of Water” isn’t putting up the type of superlative staying power that its predecessor did: James Cameron’s 2009 holiday release rode the wave of word of mouth with a series of week-to-week drops in January that never ballooned past 27%. However, “The Way of Water” is currently outpacing its preceding entry, with a $538 million total that outweighs the roughly $500 million haul that the first “Avatar” had accrued by MLK weekend in 2010.
“The Way of Water” currently stands as the 14th-highest grossing film of all time at the domestic box office, with 2019’s “The Lion King” ($543 million) and 2018’s “Incredibles 2” ($608 million) as the next releases to pass in the record books. The sci-fi sequel is the seventh-highest grossing film ever worldwide, with a global total of $1.7 billion and growing. With continued box office dominance and no high-profile competition on the immediate horizon, “The Way of Water” has a chance at becoming the first film to hit $2 billion worldwide since the start of the COVID pandemic.
“Avatar” isn’t the only film showing signs of strength at the domestic box office though. Universal’s horror-comedy “M3GAN” looks to land in second place, projecting $20 million over the four-day holiday frame. That’s a very solid hold for the Blumhouse and Atomic Monster production, which debuted to an impressive $30 million last weekend. Buzz remains strong around the film, as audiences keep lining up to meet that dancing, deadly doll.
Beyond those holdovers, the box office saw a group of new releases fending for eyeballs. Coming out strongest is Sony and Columbia Pictures’ “A Man Called Otto,” which expands wide this weekend, adding more than 3,000 theaters after beginning with a limited release over the holidays. The Tom Hanks dramedy looks to land in third, projecting a $14.9 million haul over the four-day frame to boost its domestic total to $21 million. That’s a very solid number for an adult-oriented original drama during the COVID era. Critics leaned positive on the film, but audiences are proving to be far more receptive.
Projecting a fifth place finish, Lionsgate’s thriller “Plane” took in a $3.5 million opening day from 3,023 locations. The film, carried by reliable action star Gerard Butler, is projecting a finish of $10 million over the four-day holiday frame.
Warner Bros.’ “House Party” will likely open outside of the top five. Initially produced for a streaming debut on HBO Max, the studio has pivoted to a modest wide release across 1,350 locations. The comedy remake is projecting a sub-$5 million opening across the four-day frame, not exactly making a dent at the box office.
Universal’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” looks to take fourth on domestic charts, projecting $16 million for the four-day holiday stretch. For the three-day frame, that’s a minimal 8% drop from last weekend. DreamWorks’ “Shrek” spinoff, which is already available to purchase on digital platforms, has emerged as the rare family film to become a solid success at the pandemic era box office. Now in its fourth weekend, the film will blast past the $100 million domestic mark on Saturday; the worldwide total currently stands at $206 million.
Reshoring Initiative founder Harry Moser provides insight on the manufacturing job growth on ‘Making Money with Charles Payne.’
U.S. job openings unexpectedly dropped in August to the lowest level in over a year as the Federal Reserve tries to bring down near-record high inflation and cool the labor market.
The Labor Department said Tuesday that there were 10.1 million job openings in August – a major decline from the previous month’s revised reading of 11.17 million.
Still, the number of available jobs has topped 10 million for 15 consecutive months; before the pandemic began in February 2020, the highest on record was 7.7 million.
“The broad-based decline in job openings across sectors in the US shows a slight loosening in the labor market,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for the Charlotte-based LPL Financial. “But overall, still tight.”
THE FED’S WAR ON INFLATION COULD COST 1M JOBS
A hiring sign is posted at a Target store on August 05, 2022 in San Rafael, California. ((Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) / Getty Images)
The Federal Reserve closely watches these figures as it tries to gauge labor market tightness; the lower-than-expected number of openings could provide some relief for policymakers as they try to slow the economy and cool painfully high inflation.
Despite the loosening in the labor market, Roach said he does not anticipate “a change in the Fed’s likely actions at the next meeting. In our view, the labor market moved from ‘extremely tight’ to just ‘very tight,’ and the Fed will likely respond by another 0.75% increase in the Fed funds rate next month.”
SEVERE RECESSION NEEDED TO COOL INFLATION, BANK OF AMERICA ANALYSTS SAY
Meanwhile, the number of Americans quitting their jobs rose to 4.2 million, or about 2.7% of the workforce – below the high of 4.5 million recorded earlier this year, but well above the pre-pandemic level of about 3.6 million. Hiring was also mostly unchanged at 6.3 million.
Switching jobs has been a windfall for many workers over the past year, with employees seeing an average 6.7% annual wage growth rate – a marked increase from the 4.9% of workers who do not switch jobs, according to the Atlanta Fed.
Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, arrives to speak during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, D.C., on Sept 21, 2022. (Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The Fed has responded to the inflation crisis and the extremely tight labor market by raising interest rates at the fastest pace in decades. Officials approved three consecutive 75-basis-point rate hikes in June, July and September, and have signaled that another of that magnitude is on the table in November.
Chairman Jerome Powell has conceded that higher rates could “give rise to increases in unemployment.”
“We think we need to have softer labor market conditions,” Powell said. “And if we want to set ourselves up really light the way to another period of a very strong labor market, we have got to get inflation behind us. I wish there were a painless way to do that. There isn’t.”
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The data precedes the release of the September jobs report on Friday morning, which is expected to show that employers hired 250,000 workers following a gain of 315,000 in July. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.7%.
Job openings increase 205,000 to 11.5 million in March
Hiring falls 95,000 to 6.7 million
Quits rise 152,000 to record 4.5 million
WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) – U.S. job openings increased to a record high in March as worker shortages persisted, suggesting that employers could continue to raise wages and help keep inflation uncomfortably high.
The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday also showed a record 4.5 million people voluntarily quit their jobs, underscoring the growing wage pressures. The government reported last week that compensation for American workers notched its largest increase in more than three decades in the first quarter. read more
“For the economy, this points to another strong jobs report on Friday, and for workers, this means continued strong wage increases, especially for those who change jobs,” said Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Virginia. “The situation likely will continue well into this year given the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the labor market probably won’t gain traction for months.”
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Job openings, a measure of labor demand, rose by 205,000 to 11.5 million on the last day of March. The second straight monthly increase lifted job openings to the highest level since the series started in 2000. The retail sector led the rise, with an additional 155,000 unfilled jobs. Manufacturers of long-lasting goods reported 50,000 more vacancies.
But job openings decreased by 69,000 in the transportation, warehousing and utilities industry. State and local government education had 43,000 fewer vacancies, while job openings in the federal government decreased by 20,000.
Job openings increased in the South but fell in the Northeast, Midwest and West. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 11 million vacancies.
The job-workers gap, which Goldman Sachs argues is a better measure of labor market tightness, widened to 5.6 million from 5.08 million, accounting for an all-time high of 3.4% of the labor force, up 0.3 percentage points from February.
According to Goldman Sachs, narrowing the gap halfway by 2.5 million would be enough to slow the fast pace of wage growth.
JOLTS
The JOLTS data is being closely watched by the Federal Reserve, which has adopted an aggressive monetary policy stance as it battles skyrocketing inflation, with annual consumer prices surging at rates last seen 40 years ago.
The U.S. central bank is expected to hike interest rates by half of a percentage point on Wednesday, and likely to start trimming its asset holdings soon. The Fed raised its policy interest rate by 25 basis points in March.
Stocks on Wall Street were trading higher. The dollar fell against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices were mostly higher.
“Traditionally, the Fed has concentrated on unemployment as a measure of the number of workers who can’t find jobs,” said Lou Crandall, chief economist with Wrightson ICAP in Jersey City, New Jersey. “In today’s environment, the Fed is more focused on the number of firms who can’t find workers. The Fed’s near-term policy goal is to slow aggregate spending enough to reduce the excess demand for labor.”
The job openings rate climbed to 7.1%. That was up from 7.0% in February and matched December’s all-time high. The job openings rate increased in establishments with 50 to 999 employees but declined in businesses with less than 50 workers.
Hiring fell by 95,000 jobs to 6.7 million in March. Modest increases in manufacturing, professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality were offset by declines in financial activities, education and health services, government, and trade, transportation and utilities.
There are now 70% more jobs available than new hiring. There were a record 1.92 jobs per unemployed person in March.
“The persistent difficulty that employers have in filling positions will push wages higher and spur employers to automate operations or find other efficiencies to make do with smaller staffs,” said Sophia Koropeckyj, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
“These challenges will only grow as more baby boomers leave the labor force. Companies will open operations in parts of the country with more available workers or at least will rely more on remote workers who reside in areas with better demographics.”
With jobs abundant, workers are quitting in droves. Quits increased by 152,000, lifting the total to a record 4.5 million. They were concentrated in the professional and business services industry, where resignations increased by 88,000. In the construction sector, quits rose by 69,000. The number of quits increased in the South and West.
The quits rate climbed back to the all-time high of 3.0% scaled in late 2021 from 2.9% in February. The quits rate is viewed by policymakers and economists as a measure of job market confidence. The higher quits rate suggests wage inflation will likely continue to build up as companies scramble for workers.
Layoffs increased in March but remained at low levels. The layoffs rate held at 0.9% for a third straight month.
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Reporting by Lucia Mutikani
Editing by Paul Simao
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Job openings and the number of times workers quit reached the highest levels on record in March, as a shortage of available workers continued to pressure the U.S. labor market.
The Labor Department on Tuesday reported a seasonally adjusted 11.5 million job openings in March, an increase from 11.3 million the prior month. The number of times workers quit their jobs rose to 4.5 million in the same month, slightly higher than the previous record in November of last year. Meanwhile, hiring cooled slightly from the month before to 6.7 million hires in March.
Separate private-sector estimates showed that demand for labor remained red-hot through April. Jobs site ZipRecruiter said employers had about 11 million job openings last month.
Consumer-facing industries such as accommodation and food services, along with arts and entertainment, had the highest rate of job openings in March, according to the Labor Department. Job openings in the healthcare industry were also near record highs.
According to a ZipRecruiter analysis of Labor Department data, job postings at larger employers—those with more than 5,000 workers—have more than doubled since February 2020. Manufacturing, retail, education and professional services have seen the largest increases. Openings reached their highest levels on record in the South.
The March job openings total was higher than the previous record of 11.4 million in December, according to the Labor Department.
“There is little sign of cooling in the greatest job seekers’ market of all time,” said
Julia Pollak,
chief economist of ZipRecruiter. “As businesses continue to face high turnover, and the gap between demand for labor and supply widens yet further, businesses will continue to experience upward pressure on wages.”
The number of job openings continues to exceed the number of unemployed people seeking work. In March, there were nearly two job openings for every unemployed person, according to the Labor Department. Openings have outpaced the level of unemployed people seeking jobs since last spring.
The monthly jobs report reveals key indicators about the labor market and the overall state of the economy, but it doesn’t show the entire picture. WSJ explains how to read the report, what it shows and what it doesn’t. Photo illustration: Liz Ornitz
Employers have had difficulty hiring from the limited pool of available workers, and millions of people are expected to remain on the sidelines indefinitely. That has also pushed up wages.
Bryan Simmons is a behavioral psychologist who started his own therapeutic services business in October 2020, treating patients with developmental disabilities such as autism.
Mr. Simmons said he has offered wages “much higher than the industry standard” to successfully compete for therapists.
“I remember I asked one of my current workers in particular how much money they would need to make to be happy and stay,” Mr. Simmons said. “Then they gave me a number and I said ‘Done.’”
Many people in the labor market also are finding they have gained leverage, making it easier to switch jobs.
Jeff Batuhan
quit his job as an executive at an advertising-technology company in December and took a role working remotely for Tinuiti, a marketing company based in New York City. The 45-year-old said he was drawn to the culture and flexibility of his current workplace.
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“I had a baby during the pandemic, and I started to really evaluate what’s best for me and my family. The workplace flexibility and the company’s values really played a role for me personally,” Mr. Batuhan said.
Switching to a completely remote job allowed Mr. Batuhan and his family to relocate in March from New York City to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where they have more living space, he said.
The tight labor market has helped spur record compensation gains for workers, keeping pressure on inflation. Employees who switch jobs often win double-digit pay raises.
Average hourly earnings for workers in the private sector were 5.6% higher than the year before in March, rising significantly faster than the roughly 3% rate recorded the year before the pandemic began, according to the Labor Department.
“If the job market were to slow down significantly, then we might not see the same level of wage growth and benefits expansion,” said
Are you ready for another round of the NFL coaching carousel? Playoff football is fun too, but it’s just as entertaining to follow coaching searches as several NFL teams begin the process of interviewing and hiring their next leaders. Will Brian Daboll or Eric Bieniemy land jobs this time around? Who is going to be this year’s risky hire? It’s going to be fun to see how it all shakes out.
The other facet of NFL coaching searches are the jobs themselves. If you were a hot commodity, where would you want to coach? You have players, quarterbacks, cap space, ownership — so many things to take into consideration. Below, we will attempt to rank all of the head coach opening from first to worst.
It may not even be fair to call this a “head coach opening” since Rich Bisaccia is currently crushing it as the interim coach. He led this team to four straight wins to end the season, including the incredible, 35-32 Sunday night showdown against the Los Angeles Chargers that almost ended in a tie. Bisaccia is going to get an interview, and if he defeats the Cincinnati Bengals come Saturday, who knows what will happen?
Seemingly every offseason we have a discussion about Derek Carr and his future, but he’s coming off a campaign in which he threw for a career-high 4,804 yards. As we have seen recently, Josh Jacobs is a pretty good back when you want to feature him, and then Vegas also has a dominant slot receiver in Hunter Renfrow and one of the best tight ends in the NFL in Darren Waller. As for the defense, there’s some work to do on that side of the ball, but you have to be impressed with how this unit played at times down the stretch. If you can hit on a few draft picks in your first season, things could turn around fast. Expect the Raiders to draft better as well, as CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reports that owner Mark Davis is “very likely” to be making a change at general manager.
There’s another reason I have the Raiders as the No. 1 open job in the NFL. This next head coach has a chance to be the face of the NFL in Vegas. The Raiders just wrapped up their first full season with fans present in their shiny new stadium, and this franchise is looking for something positive to feed off of in one of the most fun cities in America. You could be that coach, you could be that leader. That’s enticing.
The Broncos have an incredibly talented roster. All they are missing is a quarterback. Now, it’s true that the quarterback position is the trickiest to figure out — the Broncos haven’t had a good one since Peyton Manning in 2015 — but that’s all you have to do for this franchise to be in the playoff mix. Denver has a young and talented wide receiving corps, a young offensive line, a formidable defensive front when the linebacking corps is healthy and a future NFL star cornerback in Patrick Surtain II to go along with safety Justin Simmons.
Apart from the quarterback question, the Broncos are going through an ownership transfer/sale, but hopefully that’s something that’s decided relatively soon. Battling Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert a total of four games a year isn’t a fun prospect, but if the Broncos get a franchise quarterback, they should be ready to compete.
The Dolphins are expected to have the most cap space in the NFL this offseason, but I have questions about this opening. Not many expected Brian Flores to be fired on Monday, but reports indicate he was on the losing end of a power struggle with general manager Chris Grier. The 40-year-old is expected to be a popular participant of the coaching carousel, which may indicate that the Dolphins made the wrong move in parting ways with him. Then again, Adam Beasley of Pro Football Network reported Flores was “incredibly difficult to work with,” and that his relationships with those in the building were non-existent at times. Whether Grier or Flores was in the wrong, I’m walking into my hypothetical interview with questions of my own to ask.
The jury is still out on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. While he showed improvement in Year 2, he again missed time due to injury and there were still moments where the offense fell flat. At the very least you have to admit that a quarterback change could be down the line. Miami does have an absolute stud in Jaylen Waddle and a defense that could be one of the best in the league. Plus, who doesn’t want to live in South Florida?
Do the Bears or the Minnesota Vikings have the more intriguing job opening? Like all of these openings, Chicago has its pros and cons. Those cons certainly stood out watching George McCaskey’s press conference on Monday. Local journalists were literally power ranking the most embarrassing moments from the afternoon.
Apart from ownership, the Bears have a quarterback in Justin Fields, which is exciting. The Ohio State product has tremendous upside as a dual-threat gunslinger, but just needs some leadership and protection. Chicago doesn’t have a first-round pick this offseason, but it does have cap space. Plenty of work needs to be done on the roster, but this is a solid opportunity with a young quarterback already in place.
5. Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings finally made the decision to part ways with Mike Zimmer after 20 seasons. OK, that may be an exaggeration, but it says something about the Wilfs that they give their head coaches a chance. That’s something you should see as valuable when it feels like the leash on new head coaches is getting tighter and tighter every year.
It’s a good thing ownership appears patient, because the Vikings may be facing a solid rebuild. The defense needs major upgrades and they are very strapped for cash. Additionally, Kirk Cousins is entering the final year of his contract and is due $35 million in base salary, per Spotrac, so you’ll have to be ready to present a plan for that position. I’m not as scared of the NFC North as I was a few years ago since it appears Aaron Rodgers could be on his way out as soon as this offseason. The Vikings never lost more than nine games in a season under Zimmer, so it’s not like they were ever one of the worst teams in the NFL. You have some pieces to work with in stars like Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook, but will have to be smart about how you handle the draft and free agency — especially in this first offseason.
6. New York Giants
The G-Men are projected to be well over the 2022 salary cap, needing to trim something in the ballpark of $16 million just to be in the clear. They’ve also quickly become a model of big-market despair, missing the postseason nine times in the last 10 seasons while churning through six different head coaches, including interims. The division, while often the subject of ridicule, is also no slouch, with the Cowboys and Eagles both entering the playoffs this year. In short, this isn’t really close to a desirable destination.
Even so, it’s New York! And no legitimate NFL coaching candidate would completely balk at the opportunity to revive the Giants brand. There’s also the fact that, while the Giants don’t necessarily have a long-term QB, they also aren’t unnecessarily tied to a bad one, with Daniel Jones entering a contract year on an inexpensive deal. Couple that with Patrick Graham’s at least serviceable defense and a pair of top-10 draft picks, and maybe you’ve got the ammunition for a two-year turnaround. Things can’t be much worse than they were under Judge … and Pat Shurmur … and Ben McAdoo … and …
The Jaguars have a franchise quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, plenty of cap space and the No. 1 overall pick. That’s great, but this organization’s problems go further than money and draft picks. With all due respect, the Jaguars have been the laughing stock of the NFL for years. Fans even held a “clown out” this past Sunday to make fun of the organization for planning to retain general manager Trent Baalke. A plane flying a banner reading #KlownTown was reportedly seen above the stadium. During a stadium trivia segment, one fan even said “D.) Fire Baalke” much to the delight of everyone in attendance.
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco says the entire organization needs to be structured differently, the whole culture needs to change. The new head coach not only will have to rebuild the franchise on the field, he’s going to have to do it off the field as well.
There are signs that the worst of the turbulence was beginning to ease late last year. The number of job openings posted by employers fell in November, the Labor Department said Tuesday, though it remained high by historical standards. Hiring picked up, too. Earlier data showed that more people returned to the labor force in November, and various measures of supply-chain pressures have begun to ease.
But that was before the explosion in coronavirus cases linked to the Omicron variant, which has forced airlines to cancel flights, businesses to delay return-to-office plans and school districts to return temporarily to remote learning. Forecasters say the latest Covid-19 wave is all but certain to prolong the economic uncertainty, though it is too soon to say how it will affect inflation, spending or the job market.
Despite the demand for workers and the pay increases landed by some, Americans are pessimistic about the economy. Only 21 percent of adults said their finances were better off than a year ago, according to a survey released Tuesday — down from 26 percent when the question was asked a year earlier, even though, by most measures, the economy had improved substantially during that period. The survey of 5,365 adults was conducted last month for The New York Times by Momentive, the online research firm formerly known as SurveyMonkey.
Overall consumer confidence is at the lowest level in the nearly five years Momentive has been conducting its survey. Republicans have been particularly pessimistic about the economy since President Biden took office a year ago, but in recent months, Democrats, too, have become more dour. Other surveys have found similar results.
Inflation appears to be a big reason for people’s dark outlook. Most respondents in the Momentive survey said inflation had not yet had a major effect on their finances. But nearly nine in 10 said they were at least “somewhat concerned” about inflation, and six in 10 said they were “very concerned.” Worries about inflation cross generational, racial and even partisan lines: 95 percent of Republicans, 88 percent of independents and 82 percent of Democrats say they are concerned.
“Pretty much the only group of people who say they’re better off now than they were a year ago are people who’ve gotten a pay raise that matches or beats inflation,” said Laura Wronski, a research scientist at Momentive.
“The reasons for quitting or dropping out of the labor force are quite varied. The top reasons cited by experts continue to be lack of adequate childcare and health concerns about Covid, now exacerbated by Omicron. And while the framing of the Great Resignation places some emphasis on the idea that even knowledge workers are quitting from burnout or a sympathy with the budding anti-work movement, there are just as many reasons to suspect that many quit in search of better work opportunities, self employment, or, simply, higher pay.
Tellingly, some industries are seeing higher rates of quitting than others – leisure and hospitality, retail and healthcare being among the most affected.”
Jan 3 (Reuters) – Thousands of U.S. schools, including in some major cities, have delayed this week’s scheduled return to classrooms following the holiday break or switched to remote learning as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus drives record levels of COVID-19.
In New Jersey, which has seen some of the highest case rates of any state in recent weeks, most urban districts have implemented virtual classes to start the new year, including Newark, which has nearly 38,000 students.
Milwaukee’s public school system announced on Sunday that its more than 70,000 students would switch to virtual learning on Tuesday due to a rise in COVID infections among staff members. Cleveland’s schools have also gone remote, while Detroit canceled classes through Wednesday.
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The school disruptions, which left many parents scrambling to find child care, have added to a broadening sense of chaos in the first few days of 2022. The number of new COVID-19 cases has doubled in the last seven days to an average of 418,000 a day, according to a Reuters tally.
The Omicron variant appears to be far more contagious than previous iterations, but data suggests it may be less virulent than Delta, which swamped hospitals last year.
‘A LOT OF COVID OUT THERE’
During the last week, the number of hospitalized COVID patients rose 40% and is now at 72% of the previous peak seen in January 2021, according to the Reuters tally. U.S. COVID-19 deaths have fluctuated due to delays in reporting over the holidays but have held fairly steady at 1,300 lives lost on average each day.
Still, the sheer number of cases has alarmed health officials with hospital systems in many states already strained. Maryland, Ohio, Delaware and Washington, D.C., are all at or near record COVID-19 hospitalization rates.
Around the world, more than 3,400 flights had been canceled on Monday, more than half U.S. flights, according to the tracking website FlightAware. A snowstorm moving through the eastern United States was responsible for at least some of the cancellations.
Some school systems are using testing to try to stave off further delays. In Washington, D.C., all staff and 51,000 public school students must upload a negative test result to the district’s website before coming to class on Wednesday. Parents can pick up rapid tests at their school or use their own.
Similar efforts are underway in California, which pledged to provide free home-test kits to all its 6 million K-12 public school students.
“There’s a lot of COVID out there … it’s going to be a bumpy start,” said Michelle Smith McDonald, director of communications and public affairs for the Alameda County Office of Education.
The full impact of the Omicron surge on the country’s school districts may not be clear until next week. Already parents and administrators are struggling to implement changing guidance and figure out how many shots staff and older teenage students need to be considered fully vaccinated.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday authorized use of a third dose of the Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12 to 15, and narrowed the time for all booster shots by a month to five months after the primary doses.
Asked if schools are going to be open in his state and whether that will create problems, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson told Reuters, “The answer to both is yes.”
“We have to go back to school, but at the same time we recognize that it’s going to be a challenge, and we’re likely to see the cases in the schools go up,” Hutchinson, a Republican, added.
New York City schools, the largest district in the country, reopened as planned on Monday but with more testing for its nearly 1 million students. Instead of quarantining an entire classroom if one person tests positive, all students in the class will be given rapid at-home tests to use over the next seven days.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who took office over the weekend, visited an elementary school in the Bronx on Monday and told reporters that the city’s schools would remain open.
“We want to be extremely clear: the safest place for our children is in a school building,” he said.
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Reporting by Ann Saphir in San Francisco and Trevor Hunnicutt, Joe Shaw and Katharine Jackson in Washington; Writing by Lisa Shumaker and Joseph Ax; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Daniel Wallis and Bill Berkrot
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
A restaurant advertising jobs looks to attract workers in Oceanside, California, U.S., May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
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Job openings increase 431,000 to 11 million in October
Hiring falls 82,000; quits decline 205,000
WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) – U.S. job openings surged in October while hiring decreased, suggesting a worsening worker shortage, which could hamper employment growth and the overall economy.
The Labor Department’s monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Wednesday also showed a steady decline in layoffs, another sign that the jobs market was tightening. While the number of people voluntarily quitting their jobs fell, it remained quite high.
“Under normal circumstances, a near record number of job openings would be something worth celebrating,” said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. “But no employer is in a celebratory mood. It is difficult to fill orders or meet customer demands if there are not enough people to do the actual work.”
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Job openings, a measure of labor demand, increased by 431,000 to 11.0 million on the last day of October. This was the second-highest on record. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 10.4 million vacancies.
The surge was led by the accommodation and food services industry, where vacancies increased by 254,000 jobs. There were 45,000 job openings in the nondurable goods manufacturing industry, while vacancies increased by 42,000 in the educational services sector. But job openings decreased by 115,000 in state and local government, excluding education.
Regionally, the rise in job openings was more pronounced in the South, with moderate gains in the West and Midwest. Vacancies fell in the Northeast. The job openings rate rose to 6.9% from 6.7% in September.
Hiring dropped by 82,000 jobs to 6.5 million in October. The finance and insurance industry accounted for the decline, with a 96,000 drop in payrolls. There were, however, increases in hiring in educational services as well as state and local government education. The hiring rate was unchanged at 4.4%.
There were about 1.5 job openings per unemployed worker in October.
Reuters Graphics
The government reported last Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 210,000 jobs in November, the fewest since last December, after rising 546,000 in October. The unemployment rate fell to a 21-month low of 4.2%. read more
Though employment is 3.9 million jobs below the peak in February 2020, economists believe that number probably is not a true reflection of the labor market’s health as the shortfall includes people who have retired.
The JOLTS report showed layoffs fell by 35,000 to 1.361 million. The layoffs rate was unchanged at 0.9% for a third straight month.
Quits decreased by 205,000 to a still-high 4 million in October. The decline was in several industries, with large drops in transportation, warehousing and utilities as well as finance and insurance, and arts, entertainment and recreation.
But 21,000 more people quit their jobs in state and local government, excluding education. There were also more quits in mining and logging. The quits rate fell to 2.8% from 3.0% in September amid a large drop in the leisure and hospitality sector.
Reuters Graphics
“The quits rate in those industries dropped by half a percentage point, signaling some easing in job hopping,” said Nick Bunker, director of research at Indeed Hiring Lab. “In addition to the slowdown in wage growth in the sector seen in recent jobs reports, this trend suggests maybe the advantageous situation for workers in this sector might deteriorate in the months ahead if the current situation continues.”
The quits rate is normally viewed by policymakers and economists as a measure of job market confidence. The still-high quits rate suggests wage inflation will likely remain uncomfortably high for a while. Inflation is way above the Federal Reserve’s flexible 2% target.
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Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
A help wanted sign is posted in the window of hardware store on September 16, 2021 in San Francisco, California.
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The so-called Great Resignation lost some steam in October, with the total number of workers leaving their jobs either due to dissatisfaction or better opportunities elsewhere declined, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.
Job quitters declined by 4.7%, falling to 4.16 million from 4.36 million, the department said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The rate as a share of the workforce fell from 3% to 2.8%.
The JOLTS report is closely watched at the Federal Reserve and elsewhere for signs of labor market tightness.
While the quits rate dropped, the level of job openings accelerated to just below its all-time high. That number totaled 11.03 million, an increase of 4.1% as the rate rose to 6.9% from 6.7%.
The number of openings exceeded those looking for jobs by 3.6 million in October. JOLTS data runs a month behind the more closely followed nonfarm payrolls report, which showed a gain of 546,000 for the month.
The coronavirus pandemic has seen quits surge to what had been record highs. Even with October’s decline, the level is still 24% above where it was a year ago.
Economists generally see the exodus as greater opportunity in the pandemic-era jobs market spurred by many workers still reluctant to come off the sidelines either because of child-care issues or health concerns.
Through November, the labor force was still about 2.4 million smaller than what it had been in February 2020. The total employment level was more than 3.5 million down.
In October, total hires edged lower from their level in the previous month, while separations also were down.
