US employers hired fewer workers during April, while the number of jobs that opened rose for the fourth straight month, a government report showed on Thursday.
April job openings stood at 4.095 million up from 4.089 million in March, according to the Labour Department's latest Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey (JOLTS). It was the fourth straight monthly rise. The monthly survey lags many job market gauges, but it has become a more effective measure since the department began to adjust the numbers for seasonal variations in 2004.
The overall job openings rate remained unchanged at 2.9 percent, also for the fourth straight month.
April hires, any additions to the payroll during the month, stood at 4.544 million, down from 4.884 million last month, while the rate of hires stood at 3.4 percent compared with 3.6 percent a month ago, the report showed.
The number of separations - due to firing, layoff, quitting or retirement - fell to 4.419 million from 4.681 million the previous month, while the rate slipped to 3.3 percent from 3.5 percent.
The number of quits, a barometer of how easy it is for workers to change jobs, fell to 2.488 million from 2.763 million in March, while the rate fell to 1.8 percent from 2.0 percent the previous month.
Last week, the Labour Department said US employers added only 75,000 new jobs in May, in a report that signalled slower economic growth.
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