Job openings grew beyond economists’ predictions in November. Yet signs of a cooling labor market started to surface with fewer Americans opting to leave their positions and a noticeable slowdown in hiring.
According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Tuesday, there were 8.1 million job openings at the end of November. This growth from 7.84 million in October marks the highest number of openings since May 2023.
The figures in October were adjusted upward from the initially reported 7.74 million. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected that reports in November would reveal 7.74 million openings.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) signified that 5.27 million hires took place during November which is a decrease from the 5.39 million in October.
The hiring rate dipped to 3.3%, down from 3.4% the previous month. In addition to this, it is clear that in the quits rate worker confidence has fallen from 2.1% to 1.9%.
The lead US economist at Oxford Economics Nancy Vanden Houten identified findings from Tuesday’s findings as indicative of a ‘no hire, no fire’ labor market. Both the quits rate and hiring rate are now lower than pre-pandemic levels.
These indicators of a slowing labor market have led Fed Chair Jerome Powell to describe the current situation as looser than pre-pandemic. However, he focused that the labor market is cooling in a moderate and systematic way.
Powell mentioned, “We don’t think we need further cooling in the labor market to get inflation down to 2%.” Analysts have predicted that the US economy added 163,000 jobs in December, which is a decline from the 227,000 jobs that were added in November, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain steady at 4.2%.
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