WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. jobs openings were essentially unchanged million last month amid economic uncertainty arising from President Donald Trump’s trade policies and an impending government shutdown.
The Labor Department reported Tuesday that job openings blipped up to 7.23 million from 7.21 million in July. Economists had forecast a drop to 7.1 million.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed that layoffs fell month. But so did the number of people quitting their jobs — which is a sign of confidence in their prospects.
Job openings remain at healthy levels but have fallen steadily since peaking at a record 12.1 million in March 2022 as the U.S. economy roared back from COVID-19 lockdowns.
The U.S. job market has lost momentum this year, partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023 and partly because Trump’s trade wars have created uncertainty that is paralyzing managers trying to make hiring decisions.
Labor Department revisions earlier this month showed that the economy created 911,000 fewer jobs than originally reported in the year that ended in March. That meant that employers added an average of fewer than 71,000 new jobs a month over that period, not the 147,000 first reported. Since March, job creation has slowed even more — to an average 53,000 a month.
On Friday, the Labor Department is expected release numbers on September hiring and unemployment — though the report could be postponed if a budget impasse in Congress leads to a government shutdown Wednesday.
If the report comes out, it is expected to show that employers added 50,000 jobs in September, unimpressive but up from a meager 22,000 in August, according to a survey of economists by the data firm FactSet. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at a low 4.3%.
At their last meeting two weeks ago, Fed policymakers cut their benchmark interest rates for the first time this year to support the sputtering job market. They also signaled that expect two more rate cuts this year.
The post US job openings barely budged in August at 7.2 million appeared first on Associated Press.
