🤯 Have you seen our AI stock pickers’ 2024 results? 84.62%! Grab November’s list now.Pick Stocks with AI

U.S. job openings fall to almost two-year low in March

Published 02/05/2023, 16:06
© Reuters.

Investing.com -- The number of job openings available in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in almost two years in March, as the labor market in the world's largest economy shows signs of cooling in response to rising interest rates.

Job vacancies in the country dropped to 9.590 million on the last business day of the month, down from an upwardly revised mark of 9.974M in February, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (or JOLTS) from the Labor Department. Economists had predicted that the figure would slip to 9.775M.

Leading the decline in job openings were service-oriented industries that have become a focal point of the recent strength of the labor market. Vacancies in transportation, warehousing and utitilies slipped by 144,000, while professional and business services fell by 135,000. Openings in the retail trade and healthcare sectors also decreased by 84,000 and 71,000, respectively.

Meanwhile, the number of workers who voluntarily quit their jobs edged down by 129,000 to 3.851M. Although the change on a month-on-month basis was relatively muted, the move could be a signal that employees are becoming less confident that they will find new employment should they leave their current positions. These so-called "quits" were most pronounced in accommodation and food services.

The JOLTS numbers, which are often used as a proxy for labor market demand, come as the Federal Reserve begins its latest two-day policy meeting. Cooling off the red-hot job market in the U.S. has been a key pillar of the Fed's recently aggressive rate-hiking campaign, with some officials arguing that a softening in this part of the economy may subsequently help bring down elevated inflation.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.