U.S. employers reported better-than-expected job openings in June, signaling that demand for labor is not cooling as much as expected.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Force Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report, announced that job openings fell to 8.18 million as of the end of June.
Economists had been expecting 8 million job openings, which beat the most optimistic forecast in an Econoday/Bloomberg survey.
Last month, job openings were initially reported at 8.14 million. This was revised upwards to 8.23 million, meaning that without the upward revision, the latest figure would have been an increase.
The report showed that demand for workers remains strong even as hiring slows and wage growth slows from last year’s torrid pace. The unemployment rate rose for a third straight month, hitting 4.1% in June, but that’s still very low by historical standards.
The rising number of starts could give Fed officials reason to delay rate cuts beyond September, when markets currently expect the central bank to start cutting rates.
The number of job openings per unemployed person has remained steady at 1.2, the same level as before the pandemic, and is seen as a key indicator of labor market tightness. The current ratio indicates that the labor market is fairly tight, but is much lower than it was in 2022, when the ratio peaked at 2:1.
Restaurant, hotel and commercial job openings increased. State and local government job openings also increased. Manufacturing job openings decreased.
The job-turnover rate remained steady at 2.1%, also in line with pre-pandemic levels. The rise in the job-turnover rate, which measures whether workers voluntarily quit their jobs, is seen as a sign that workers are becoming more confident that they will easily be able to find a better job.
