US job openings edged higher in July and layoffs fell, suggesting demand for workers remains stable at a subdued level.
Available positions rose to 7.27 million from a downwardly revised 7.18 million in June, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data out Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 7.31 million openings.
The report signals the labor market remains in the low-hire, low-fire environment that has defined much of the past few years. Employers may be cautious about expanding headcount amid geopolitical uncertainty and persistent inflation, but they have also been hesitant to let go of employees.
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The increase in openings was led by manufacturing, state and local government excluding education, and healthcare and social assistance. The level of openings in manufacturing was the most since December 2023, while vacancies in leisure and hospitality fell to the lowest since 2021.
Layoffs, meanwhile, fell to the lowest level since January. Dismissals in manufacturing were the lowest in more than five years. The so-called quits rate, which measures the percentage of people voluntarily leaving their jobs each month, edged down to 1.9%.
Initial filings for unemployment insurance remained low in July, reinforcing a lack of widespread layoff activity despite some high-profile job-cut announcements by companies including Visa Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
The report also showed there were about 1.1 vacancies per unemployed worker. The ratio, was which at its peak in 2022 was 2-to-1, is often cited by Federal Reserve officials as a measure of the balance between labor supply and demand.
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In an Aug. 28 speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh described the labor market as “quite stable” and “consistent with full employment,” arguing relatively low turnover is partly a result of “significant rematching between employers and employees that happened at scale in the post-pandemic environment.”
The government's monthly jobs report due Friday will offer additional insights into the state of the labor market. Economists expect it to show the US created 55,000 jobs in August after employers shed 23,000 jobs in July.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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