By James Myers, OAN Staff
Thursday, September 5, 2024 9:08 AM
Job openings across the US have plummeted to their lowest level since the beginning of 2021, a very worrying sign that the labor market is cooling.
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The Department of Labour's Job Vacancies and Labour Mobility Survey (JOLTS) report, released on Wednesday, showed 7.6 million job vacancies in July, the lowest level since January 2021 and below the 8.1 million expected by economists surveyed by LSEG.
The report also revised down the number of job openings in June, down by 274,000 to 7.9 million, and the number of employed people, down by 93,000 to 5.2 million.
The number of people laid off also rose in June, with the new figure increasing by 62,000 to 1.6 million.
The latest information indicates that the labor market continues to slow, increasing the likelihood and size of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this month.
“The JOLTS report was another negative surprise on the state of the U.S. economy,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate. “It reinforces our current view of a softening job market, with hiring slowing and the unemployment rate rising.”
Meanwhile, recent employment and jobs data has raised concerns that the Fed has kept interest rates too high for too long, a scenario that could lead to more unemployment and lower economic output.
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