While the US government continues to make it difficult for skilled immigrants to enter the country, the US firms have millions of unfilled jobs. For the very first time, the number of unfilled jobs exceeds the number of unemployed Americans.
Employers in the US are struggling to fill several open positions. The number of unfilled jobs in April increased by 1%, touching 6.7 million as compared to 6.6 million in March this year. The labor department is concerned about the unfilled positions as they keep growing. The unfilled positions will give leverage to workers to demand pay raise.
The unemployment in the US has reached 3.8%. US firms have added a large number of jobs in the last five years. If this trend continues, the unemployment rate will fall even further. The unemployment rate is the lowest in the last 2 decades.
The highest number of open jobs in the US are in professional and business services category. These jobs include various job roles such as accountants, architects, and engineers. The increased openings are quite significant in manufacturing and hospitality sector. Geographical classification suggests that the largest increase in open jobs are in Midwest and West.
It is not clear if employers are trying hard to fill their open jobs. Online job listing portals are making it easier for firms to scan through resumes. Employers can easily post openings and run the initial screening of applications. However, the demand for new positions employers ensures steady pay gains to workers.
There is an increase of 2.8% in terms of hourly pay for workers. Mid and senior level employees continue to struggle a little. This may indicate that employers are not as desperate to hire a large number of candidates. The data the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta suggests that employees that often switch jobs can enjoy high pay gains.
Which is making it difficult for US employers to retain the workers. Pay increases are relatively lower for job switchers. The Trump administration’s ‘Buy American, Hire American’ agenda is working in favor of job seekers.