Labor Department released its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS report, on Tuesday that showed U.S. job openings jumping more than expected while hiring and layoffs are trending down, indicating a softening of labor demand.
According to the report, there were 7.74 million available jobs in October compared to 7.5 million estimated by economists. It marked a 372,000 jump from September’s revised figure of 7.37 million job openings. The JOLTS report for September stated there were 7.44 million job openings.
There are currently 1.1 jobs available per unemployed person, which represents another increase from September when there were 1.08 jobs open per unemployed person.
Hiring and layoffs dropped in October. There were 5.31 million hires compared to September’s figure of 5.58 million hires, while the hiring rate went down from 3.5% to 3.3%. The layoffs dropped by 169,000 to 1.63 million.
JOLTS report is closely watched by the Federal Reserve as part of consideration for policy moves. Economists believe that the data is favorable enough to prompt another rate cut in December before halting cuts throughout 2025.
“The report points to ongoing resilience and doesn’t flag major concerns about the economy,” Oren Klachkin, financial market economist at Nationwide, stated. “With policy still restrictive in its view, the Fed can probably push through with another rate cut before considering a pause next year.”