Current:Home > MarketsUS job openings fall as demand for workers weakens-LoTradeCoin
US job openings fall as demand for workers weakens
View Date:2024-12-23 20:04:06
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers posted fewer job openings in July than they had the previous month, a sign that hiring could cool in the coming months.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that there were 7.7 million open jobs in July, down from 7.9 million in June and the fewest since January 2021. Openings have fallen steadily this year, from nearly 8.8 million in January.
Layoffs also rose to 1.76 million, the most since March 2023, though that level of job cuts is roughly consistent with pre-pandemic levels, when the unemployment rate was historically low. Layoffs have been unusually low since the pandemic as many employers have sought to hold onto their workers.
Overall, Wednesday’s report painted a mixed picture of the job market. On the positive side, total hiring rose in July, to 5.5 million, after it had fallen to a four-year low of 5.2 million in June. And the number of people who quit their jobs ticked up slightly, to about 3.3 million. The number of quits is seen as a measure of the job market’s health: Workers typically quit when they already have a new job or when they’re confident they can find one.
Still, quits remain far below the peak of 4.5 million reached in 2022, when many workers shifted jobs as the economy accelerated out of the pandemic recession.
Wednesday’s figures indicate that fewer companies are seeking to add workers despite recent data showing that consumer spending is still growing. Last week, the government estimated that the economy expanded at a healthy 3% annual rate in the April-June quarter.
Even as openings have fallen for the past two years, there are still roughly 1.1 job openings for every unemployed person, Wednesday’s report showed. That reflects the economy’s continuing need for workers and marks a reversal from before the pandemic, when there were always more unemployed people than available jobs.
The July report on job openings is the first of several measures this week of the labor market’s health that the Federal Reserve will be watching closely. If clear evidence emerges that hiring is faltering, the Fed might decide at its next meeting Sept. 17-18 to start cutting its benchmark interest rate by a relatively aggressive half-percentage point. If hiring remains mostly solid, however, a more typical quarter-point rate cut would be likelier.
On Thursday, the government will report how many laid-off workers sought unemployment benefits last week. So far, most employers are largely holding onto their workers, rather than imposing layoffs, even though they have been slower to add jobs than they were earlier this year.
On Friday, the week’s highest-profile economic report — the monthly jobs data — will be released. The consensus estimate of economists is that employers added 163,000 jobs in August and that the unemployment rate ticked down from 4.3% to 4.2%.
Last month, the government reported that job gains slowed in July to just 114,000 — far fewer than expected and that the second-smallest total in 3 1/2 years — and the unemployment rate rose for a fourth straight month.
Those figures sparked fears that the economy was seriously weakening and contributed to a plunge in stock prices. Late last month, Fed Chair Jerome Powell underscored the central bank’s increasing focus on the job market, with inflations steadily fading.
In a speech at an annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell said that hiring has “cooled considerably” and that the Fed does not “seek or welcome further cooling” in the job market. Economists saw those comments as evidence that the Fed may accelerate its rate cuts if it decides it is needed to offset a slowdown in hiring.
veryGood! (93)
Related
- Everard Burke Introduce
- Kentucky spending plan calling for more state funding of student transportation advances
- A Tennessee lawmaker helped pass a strict abortion law. He's now trying to loosen it
- New Mexico officers won't face charges in fatal shooting at wrong address
- The Daily Money: Inflation is still a thing
- Kentucky spending plan calling for more state funding of student transportation advances
- How mapping 'heat islands' can help cities prepare for extreme heat
- 3 dead, 9 injured after 'catastrophic' building collapse near Boise, Idaho, airport
- 'Wanted' posters plastered around University of Rochester target Jewish faculty members
- Donations pour in to replace destroyed Jackie Robinson statue on his 105th birthday
Ranking
- SNL's Chloe Fineman Says Rude Elon Musk Made Her Burst Into Tears as Show Host
- Selma Blair shares health update, says she's in pain 'all the time' amid MS remission
- Pig café in Japan drawing dozens of curious diners who want to snuggle with swine
- House passes sweeping, bipartisan bill with expanded child tax credit and business tax breaks
- South Carolina to take a break from executions for the holidays
- Judge: Florida official overstepped authority in DeSantis effort to stop pro-Palestinian group
- You’ll Love Jessica Biel’s Birthday Tribute to Justin Timberlake—This We Promise You
- Horoscopes Today, February 1, 2024
Recommendation
-
32 things we learned in NFL Week 10: Who will challenge for NFC throne?
-
New York City police have to track the race of people they stop. Will others follow suit?
-
The fight over banning menthol cigarettes has a long history steeped in race
-
Deadly school bus crash in Ohio yields new safety features and training — but no seat belt mandate
-
Dramatic video shows Phoenix police rescue, pull man from car submerged in pool: Watch
-
Donations pour in to replace destroyed Jackie Robinson statue on his 105th birthday
-
2 homeowners urged to evacuate due to Pennsylvania landslide
-
Chrissy Teigen accidentally slips that she's had her breasts done 3 times