In the latest sign the economy may be cooling, the number of job openings in the U.S. has shrunk to its smallest number in over three years.
The latest available U.S. Labor Department jobs report was shakier than expected — bad for job-seekers and for investors seeking signs of a softening economy.
Some economists suspect the signs of the softening economy may prompt the Federal Reserve to aggressively cut interest rates.
Yahoo Finance has the story:
Job openings fell more than expected in July. The data comes as investors closely watch for signs of further cooling in the labor market amid speculation the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this month.
New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday showed there were 7.67 million jobs open at the end of July, a decrease from the 7.91 million seen in June. This marked the lowest number of job openings since January 2021.
June’s figure was revised lower from the 8.18 million open jobs initially reported. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the report to show 8.1 million openings in June.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also showed 5.5 million hires were made during the month, a slight uptick from June. The hiring rate increased to 3.5% in July, up from 3.3% in June. Also in Wednesday’s report, the quits rate, a sign of confidence among workers, rose to 2.1%, up from 2% in June.
Oxford Economics senior US economist Nancy Vanden Houten wrote in a note to clients the latest data is a sign “that demand for labor continues to ease.”