US Job Openings Fall To 7.44 Million After Back-To-Back Jumps
The pullback in openings was broad, driven by accommodation and food services, health care as well as finance and insurance.
US job openings fell in June after jumping in each of the prior two months, hovering at a level that indicates generally stable demand for workers.
Available positions decreased to 7.44 million from a revised 7.71 million reading in May, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 7.5 million openings.
The pullback in openings was broad, driven by accommodation and food services, health care as well as finance and insurance.
Tuesday’s report supports characterizations of a cooling labor market, but only gradually. Job openings remain above average levels seen prior to the pandemic, suggesting there is still a relatively healthy demand for workers. However, hiring has slowed and it is taking unemployed people longer to secure a new position.
The state of the labor market will be a major topic during the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting that concludes Wednesday. Chair Jerome Powell has described the labor market as “solid” and cited uncertainty around the inflationary impact of tariffs as justification for holding interest rates steady.
Officials widely are expected to do so again this time around, but there could be dissents from some policymakers who want to bolster the slowing labor market. That may become more evident in the July jobs report due Friday, which is forecast to show moderating job growth and higher unemployment.
June’s hiring rate slowed to 3.3%, the lowest since November, according to the JOLTS report. Layoffs were little changed at a subdued level, while few workers voluntarily quit their jobs. This suggests people are less confident in their ability to find a new position than they were last year.
The number of vacancies per unemployed worker, a ratio Fed officials watch closely as a proxy of the balance between labor demand and supply, held at 1.1. At its peak in 2022, the ratio was 2 to 1.
Some economists have questioned the validity of the JOLTS data, in part due to the survey’s low response rate and heavy revisions. A similar index by job-posting site Indeed, which is reported on a daily basis, showed openings ticked down in June, extending a steady downward streak throughout this year.
Separate data Tuesday showed US consumer confidence increased in July as concerns eased about the outlook for the broader economy and the labor market.
