Fewer U.S. workers reportedly are moving around the country to take new jobs as more openings closer to home make people less willing to uproot their lives for work.
About 3.5 million people relocated for a new job last year, according to U.S. census data, a 10% drop from 3.8 million in 2015, The Wall Street Journal recently reported.
The numbers have fluctuated between 2.8 million and 4.5 million since the government started tracking annual job-related relocations in 1999—but have been trending lower overall, even as the U.S. population grew by nearly 20% over that stretch.
“Experts cite a number of factors that in some periods have kept people in one place, including a depressed value for their home or limited job openings. In the current strong economy, real-estate values have rebounded, but that has made housing costs prohibitively high in some regions where jobs are abundant, such as major East and West Coast cities,” WSJ.com reported.
And while more positions are available, often at better pay, many people aren’t interested in relocating for family reasons or because they can get a better job nearby without the disruption and expense of moving, the Journal explained.
Meanwhile, U.S. employers posted slightly more openings in June than the previous month, resulting in more available jobs than unemployed people for the third straight month, signaling a solid economy, Bloomberg reported.
The Labor Department said earlier this month that job openings barely increased, rising 3,000 to 6.66 million. That's more than the 6.56 million people who were searching for work in June. It's also close to April's figure of 6.8 million, a record high. Overall hiring slipped to 5.65 million from 5.75 million, and the number of people quitting their jobs declined slightly to 3.4 million from nearly 3.5 million in May.
The figures reflect a robust job market. The unemployed typically outnumber job openings, but that reversed this spring amid strong demand from employers. Businesses are optimistic about the outlook and stepping up hiring in anticipation of solid future growth. The economy expanded at a 4.1 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, the fastest pace in four years.
The government said earlier this month that employers added 157,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent, near an 18-year low. That figure represents a net gain, while the report known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey, or JOLTS, measures total hiring before quits, layoffs and retirements.
The proportion of workers quitting their jobs is at the highest level in nearly 13 years. That's a sign of confidence in the economy, because workers typically quit when they are sure they can find a new job, or when they already have one, usually at higher pay.
With job openings outnumbering the unemployed, companies should be bidding up wages to attract and keep workers. Yet average hourly pay gains, while slowly grinding higher, remain modest.
Material from Bloomberg, Reuters and the Associated Press were used in this report.
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