Job openings throughout the U.S. continue to exceed the number of unemployed workers, a phenomenon first seen in the Midwest since early 2017, but is now being seen in broad areas across the country, particularly the South. The surge in Midwest job openings in 2017 came about due to strong demand for U.S. factory goods, which may be hampered this year by the recent U.S.-China trade friction, while the South's recent surge has been due to strong growth in the construction and retail sectors. The combination of increasing job openings and low unemployment around the country may convince the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates despite a slowing global economy, if labor shortages continue to prove a tight U.S. labor market, which may lead to the higher inflation that the Fed has been working to avoid.
See "More U.S. regions see job openings outnumbering jobless", Jason Lange, Ann Saphir, Reuters, January 9, 2019