Job openings fell more than expected in July in another sign of labor market softening
Job openings slumped to their lowest level in 3½ years in July, the Labor Department reported Wednesday in another sign of slack in the labor market.
Job openings slumped to their lowest level in 3½ years in July, the Labor Department reported Wednesday in another sign of slack in the labor market.
The department’s closely watched Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that available positions fell to 7.67 million on the month, off 237,000 from June’s downwardly revised number and the lowest level since January 2021.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 8.1 million.
With the decline, it brought the ratio of job openings per available worker down to less than 1.1, about half where it was from its peak of more than 2 to 1 in early 2022.
The data likely provides further ammunition to Federal Reserve officials who are widely expected to begin lowering interest rates when they meet for their next policy meeting on Sept. 17-18. Fed officials watch the JOLTS report closely as an indicator of labor market strength.
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