Businesses Looking Past Tariff Issues? April Job Openings Beat Expectations: 'Should Give A Lift To The Market'

April’s better-than-expected job openings data hinted that businesses were looking past the tariff-induced tension. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) called it "little changed" as analysts assessed its impact on the stock market.

What Happened: Job openings rose to 7.391 million in April from 7.200 million in March, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) from the BLS.

April's release beat the 7.100 million consensus forecast. But the BLS called the level of openings "little changed," meaning that their survey didn't have enough respondents to be statistically convincing that the monthly increase was a signal and not noise.

The CIO at Northlight Asset Management, Chris Zaccarelli, said that the higher-than-expected job openings were a good sign for the economy, as many were worried that the tariff uncertainty was weighing too heavily on businesses.

According to him, businesses felt confident to hire and expand. The data shows that “businesses are looking past the tariff issues for now, and that should give a lift to the market,” said Zaccarelli.

Despite Zaccarelli’s positive take, Bill Adams, the chief economist at Comerica Bank, highlighted that “Openings in manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, and government hit the lowest since the post-pandemic hiring surge. Slumping openings in these industries reflect headwinds from tariffs, shaky consumer confidence, and DOGE.”

However, he acknowledged that most industries saw gains for the month, which demonstrated that the job market is in pretty good shape.

Zaccarelli also cautioned that there were concerns about businesses putting capital expenditures on hold or even just slowing down their spending, but he added, “We're optimistic that the trade negotiations that are underway will lead to trade deals and a reduction in uncertainty, which has been weighing on the economy.”

“The labor market is returning to more normal levels despite the uncertainty within the macro outlook. Underlying patterns in hirings and firings suggest the labor market is holding steady,” explained Jeffrey Roach, the chief economist at LPL Financial.

According to him, if the labor market holds, the Federal Reserve can remain in the "wait and see" mode before it restarts its rate cutting.

Why It Matters: Hiring in April rose to 5.573 million from 5.404 million and was the strongest since May 2024.

Most of the monthly increase was in leisure and hospitality, up 112,000, including a 106,000 increase in accommodation and food services.

Hires rose 69,000 in professional and business services, 42,000 in construction, and 31,000 in healthcare and social assistance. However, it fell 53,000 in retail, 31,000 in finance and insurance, and 17,000 in wholesale.

Price Action: The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ, which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose in premarket on Wednesday. The SPY was up 0.19% at $597.20, while the QQQ advanced 0.18% to $528.25, according to Benzinga Pro data.