The U.S. job market is overloaded by about five million openings yet not enough workers who are interested in filling them, according to a survey Wednesday from the Labor Department.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) by the Labor Department noted that the U.S. had at least 11.3 million job openings, but this figure has barely moved since the end of January. This figure is an adjustment from December's job numbers which fell from 11.3 million openings to 11.26 million, leaving about 4.75 million job openings available.

At the same time, the number of workers who are quitting their job or leaving the workforce has also barely budged. According to the JOLTS report, the quit rate fell by 2.8% with the highest amounts recorded in the financial and insurance sectors while falling in retail and IT. Layoffs remained close to 0.9%, changing little since the previous report.

These numbers demonstrate that the “Great Resignation” that took root during the economic recovery from COVID-19 has eased somewhat, but the positions it left available have not been able to attract replacements. Throughout the last quarter of 2021, the number of resignations reached as high as 4.5 million with a quit rate of 3% in November. The latest figures put this rate at its lowest level since October when it was also 2.8%.

Adding to the importance of this month’s JOLTS report is that it arrives just as the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since the pandemic began.

For the Fed, which aims to maintain full employment and is staring at a 3.8% unemployment rate in the present, the JOLTS report is an important indicator of slack in the labor force. But between the tight labor market portrayed in the latest numbers as well as an inflation rate of 7.5%, these figures are likely to support the Fed’s case for hiking interest rates.

The Federal Reserve is next expected to convene for a meeting from March 15 to March 16.

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