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Job postings, hiring fall in March

A job fair in New York. In March, there were 3.1 unemployed people, on average, for each job opening.Mark Lennihan/Associated Press

WASHINGTON — US employers posted fewer job openings in March compared with February and slowed overall hiring, underscoring a weak month of job growth.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that job openings fell 1.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted 3.8 million jobs. Total hiring declined 4.3 percent to 4.3 million.

The unemployed faced heavy competition in March. There were 3.1 unemployed people, on average, for each job opening. That’s above the ratio of 2 to 1 that is typical in a healthy economy.

On Friday, the government reported that employers added just 138,000 net jobs in March, well below February’s 332,000. Tuesday’s report shows that the slowdown occurred because gross hiring fell and layoffs increased.

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Job growth picked up in April. The economy added 165,000 net jobs, and the US unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent, from 7.6 percent in March.

April’s gain, along with sharp upward revisions in the totals for February and March, suggest that the job market is improving steadily. Employers have now added an average of 208,000 jobs per month from November through April. That’s much higher than the average of 138,000 in the previous six months.