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Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected 8.1 million job openings, but the actual number was 7.67 million.
This is the lowest since 2021. Last month's figure was also revised downward.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that job openings fell to the lowest level in three and a half years in July, a new sign of slackening in the labor market.
The number of job vacancies fell to 7.67 million this month, down 237,000 from a downwardly revised figure in June and the lowest level since January 2021, according to the ministry's closely watched Job Vacancies and Labour Mobility Survey.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected 8.1 million.
The decline has pushed the job offer ratio per worker down to less than 1.1, roughly half from more than double its peak in early 2022.
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“The labor market is no longer at pre-pandemic levels, it's below them,” said Nick Bunker, director of economic research at Indeed Hiring Lab. “No one wants the labor market to get any colder at this point, let alone Federal Reserve policymakers.”
The number of people laid off also increased from 1.56 million to 1.76 million.
Layoffs rose to 1.76 million from 1.56 million, the highest number since March 2023, but the level of job cuts is roughly in line with pre-pandemic levels, when unemployment was historically low. Layoffs have remained unusually low since the economy recovered quickly from the pandemic recession, with many employers focused on keeping employees on the job.
Overall, Wednesday's report painted a mixed picture for the job market. On the positive side, total employment rose to 5.5 million in July after falling to a four-year low of 5.2 million in June. The number of people leaving their jobs also rose slightly to about 3.3 million. The number of people leaving their jobs is seen as a gauge of the health of the job market. Workers usually leave jobs because they already have a new job or are confident they can find a new one.
Still, that number remains well below the peak of 4.5 million recorded in 2022, a year in which many workers changed jobs as the economy emerged from a pandemic-induced recession. That surge in job losses helped spur wage growth as companies boosted pay to retain or hold on to employees. The current low level of job loss means wage growth is likely to remain modest, which should help further tame inflation.
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