The hiring rate was little changed in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Wednesday report.



Job openings hit 5.8 million at the end of April, up slightly from 5.76 million openings in March, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) report.



The report beat economists' consensus expectations of 5.7 million job openings for the month, according to Thomson Reuters.

The monthly report from the Labor Department is a closely followed barometer of economic conditions, and measures job postings in different sectors, and the number of hires and layoffs.

The job openings rate was 3.9 percent in April, with the biggest increase in wholesale trade, transportation, warehousing, and utilities at 65,000 openings. Professional and business services saw the biggest decrease, down 274,000 openings, according to the JOLTS report.