On a positive note, the fall in job openings hints that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the labor market are paying off, particularly as the central bank looks to create better balance in the fight against inflation.

“The decline in job openings since the start of the year indicates the cumulative impact of the Fed’s aggressive rate hike campaign is starting to bite,” economists at Oxford Economics observed. “However, the level of openings is still elevated, and we expect the Fed to opt for another 25bps increase this week as it looks to ensure that the rebalancing of supply and demand in the labor market continues.”

The JOLTS report comes in time for the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate policy decision, which is set to be determined at its two-day policy meeting scheduled to commence on Wednesday.

The post U.S. Job Openings Slump to Lowest Level Since April 2021 appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

The report indicates that there have been 1.9 job openings for every unemployed American in the first month of 2023. Experts believe that this will prompt Federal Reserve to consider job market conditions “too hot” for their efforts to fight inflation, causing further interest rate hikes in an attempt to produce a “cool down” effect. 

“The decline in job openings does not indicate any meaningful improvement in the balance between labor demand and labor supply from the perspective of the Fed,” Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital, told Reuters.

The labor demand continues to hit new historic highs. The 10.8 million job openings in January mean that there have been 20 straight months in which there were at least 10 million jobs available. This hasn’t happened since Labor Department started tracking data in 2000. Also, unemployment in the U.S. in January was the lowest since 1969 at 3.4%.

The Fed will probably see some positives in the JOLTS report, like the fact that the rate of layoffs increased, especially in the tech industry. Also, there have been fewer people willingly quitting their jobs, with 3.9 million being the fewest since May 2011.

The post Job Openings in U.S. Dip to 10.8 Million But Still Considered High appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

In their monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS), the Labor Department reported that there were 10.1 million job openings in the U.S. in August compared to 11.170 million in July. The largest decrease was recorded in the health care and social assistance industry, which saw 236,000 fewer job openings, and retail trade with a drop of 143,000.

The rate and number of hires, however, didn’t change much from July. In August, there were 6.3 million hires, while the hire rate stood pat at 4.1 percent. According to JOLTS, 4.2 million people quit their job in August, while 1.5 million were laid off or discharged.

Despite the decrease in job openings, the number is still considered fairly high taking surging inflation into consideration. This is why it is expected that the Federal Reserve continues to ramp up its interest rates in an attempt to further cool down the economy and decrease the labor demand.

The Fed increased the federal funds rate from 0.25% to 0.50% in March to the current level of 3.00% to 3.25%. Further interest rate hikes are expected by the end of the year.

The post U.S. Job Openings Drop by 1.1 Million, Most Since April 2022 appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

On a positive note, the fall in job openings hints that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the labor market are paying off, particularly as the central bank looks to create better balance in the fight against inflation.

“The decline in job openings since the start of the year indicates the cumulative impact of the Fed’s aggressive rate hike campaign is starting to bite,” economists at Oxford Economics observed. “However, the level of openings is still elevated, and we expect the Fed to opt for another 25bps increase this week as it looks to ensure that the rebalancing of supply and demand in the labor market continues.”

The JOLTS report comes in time for the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate policy decision, which is set to be determined at its two-day policy meeting scheduled to commence on Wednesday.

The post U.S. Job Openings Slump to Lowest Level Since April 2021 appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

The report indicates that there have been 1.9 job openings for every unemployed American in the first month of 2023. Experts believe that this will prompt Federal Reserve to consider job market conditions “too hot” for their efforts to fight inflation, causing further interest rate hikes in an attempt to produce a “cool down” effect. 

“The decline in job openings does not indicate any meaningful improvement in the balance between labor demand and labor supply from the perspective of the Fed,” Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital, told Reuters.

The labor demand continues to hit new historic highs. The 10.8 million job openings in January mean that there have been 20 straight months in which there were at least 10 million jobs available. This hasn’t happened since Labor Department started tracking data in 2000. Also, unemployment in the U.S. in January was the lowest since 1969 at 3.4%.

The Fed will probably see some positives in the JOLTS report, like the fact that the rate of layoffs increased, especially in the tech industry. Also, there have been fewer people willingly quitting their jobs, with 3.9 million being the fewest since May 2011.

The post Job Openings in U.S. Dip to 10.8 Million But Still Considered High appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

In their monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS), the Labor Department reported that there were 10.1 million job openings in the U.S. in August compared to 11.170 million in July. The largest decrease was recorded in the health care and social assistance industry, which saw 236,000 fewer job openings, and retail trade with a drop of 143,000.

The rate and number of hires, however, didn’t change much from July. In August, there were 6.3 million hires, while the hire rate stood pat at 4.1 percent. According to JOLTS, 4.2 million people quit their job in August, while 1.5 million were laid off or discharged.

Despite the decrease in job openings, the number is still considered fairly high taking surging inflation into consideration. This is why it is expected that the Federal Reserve continues to ramp up its interest rates in an attempt to further cool down the economy and decrease the labor demand.

The Fed increased the federal funds rate from 0.25% to 0.50% in March to the current level of 3.00% to 3.25%. Further interest rate hikes are expected by the end of the year.

The post U.S. Job Openings Drop by 1.1 Million, Most Since April 2022 appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.