The number of job openings fell in July and the number of people leaving their current jobs increased as the economy showed signs of cooling after a period of high interest rates.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that its monthly Job Openings and Labor Force Movements (JOLTS) survey showed job openings fell to 7.7 million from a downwardly revised 7.9 million in June.
The number of people who lost their jobs, including those fired or retired, increased by 336,000 from 5.1 million to 5.4 million.
Analysts expressed pessimism about Wednesday's news.
“The JOLTS report was another negative surprise for the state of the U.S. economy. Not only were job openings down about 7.7 million month-over-month at the end of July, but June job openings were revised downward by 274,000 to 7.9 million,” Bankrate economic analyst Mark Hamrick said in a commentary.
The economy's unemployment rate has been rising since April, climbing from near record lows over the past six months, and rose 0.2 percentage points to 4.3 percent last month, triggering a closely watched recessionary indicator known as the thumb rule.
As a result, the job vacancy rate has been declining from 2x at the end of 2022.
Analysts on Wednesday also warned of different types of stress consumers are facing.
“Consumer sentiment is weakening, suggesting an increase in unemployment is overdue,” Mark Goosey, executive director at Principal Asset Management, said in a commentary.
“Credit card balances and delinquencies have risen steadily since the pandemic, signaling consumers' increased reliance on debt to maintain their standard of living,” he added.
The market seemed unfazed by Wednesday's news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 130 points as of 10:40 a.m. Wednesday. Markets fell sharply on Tuesday following news of the manufacturing slowdown.
