US Job Openings Surge To Record 9.3 Million In April

(CBS13/AP) - U.S. employers posted a record 9.3 million job openings in April as the U.S. economy reopens at break-neck speed.

Openings were up 12% from 8.3 million in March. But employers hired just 6.1 million, up 1% from March, according to a Labor Department report out Tuesday, suggesting that job vacancies are opening faster than companies can fill them. Hotels and restaurants, reopening after being forced to close or curb hours during the coronavirus pandemic, reported the biggest increase in job openings.

The number of Americans quitting their job rose 11% to almost 4 million in April, the highest figure in records going back to 2000.

California's unemployment rate remained at 8.3 percent in April, the second-highest in the nation, as the state's employers gained 101,800 non-farm payroll jobs, according to data released from the California Employment Development Department.

This comes after March's upwards-revised (+12,800 jobs) month-over gain of 132,400 jobs. Of the 2,714,800 total nonfarm jobs lost in March and April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, California has now regained 1,302,100 jobs (48 percent) since May 2020.

The state's leisure and hospitality industry is still down more than 500,000 jobs since the pandemic began. Experts believe that sector will fuel the state's job growth over the next few months as more businesses reopen.