Number of Available US Jobs Falls to Lowest Level in Over 2 Years

Number of Available US Jobs , Falls to Lowest Level in Over 2 Years.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released data on Aug.

1 indicating that job openings have reached their lowest point in over two years, CNN reports.

June saw available jobs drop for the second month in a row to 1.6 jobs per applicant.

The Federal Reserve, which has raised interest rates 11 times since March 2022, views the new data as an indicator that things are moving in the right direction.

By making things more difficult to purchase, the Fed hopes to subdue demand, which in turn helps the economy to attain a "soft landing," it says.

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It is looking like a soft landing, but the problem is that we won’t know whether this is a soft landing or whether conditions continue to weaken further and we get a recession four or five months from now.

, Gus Faucher, an economist with PNC Financial Services, via CNN.

Both a recession and a soft landing look like this, Gus Faucher, an economist with PNC Financial Services, via CNN.

The latest JOLTS report bolsters the prospect that the Fed can tame inflation without inducing carnage in the labor market, Wells Fargo economists Sarah House and Michael Pugliese, via CNN.

New data also shows that new hires dropped from 6.23 million to 5.91 million in June.

The number of people quitting their jobs dropped from 4.067 million to 3.722 million.

Layoffs dipped from 1.546 million to 1.527 million.

Job openings fell to their lowest level since April 2021, but there is still a large gap between the long-term average level, or one consistent with slack in the labor market.

, Oxford Economics economists Matthew Martin and Ryan Sweet, via CNN.

Further, while the quits rate fell, the measure is quite volatile, and is still at a level that indicates continued pressure on wages as many workers leave jobs in search of other (higher-paying) opportunities, Oxford Economics economists Matthew Martin and Ryan Sweet, via CNN