Job openings fell in June to second-lowest level since Biden took office

Job openings fell slightly in June, a sign that the labor market is cooling a bit as the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates high.

June job openings fell to just 8.18 million, a decline of about 941,000 from a year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in an update to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. That is the lowest level since April and the second-lowest reading since President Joe Biden entered office.

Job openings have trended down in the past few years, a sign that the jobs market is beginning to soften under the weight of the Federal Reserve’s tightening.

"The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicates a steadier slowdown in hires over the course of 2023 and 2024," Vanguard economists wrote in a note on Tuesday's report. "Government data showing a hiring decline this year and a rise in the unemployment rate from 3.5% in July 2023 to 4.1% in June 2024 have stirred fears of a U.S. recession."

About 3.3 million workers quit their jobs in June, little changed from the month before. The figure is equivalent to about 2.1% of the workforce.

The number of quits reflects workers voluntarily leaving their jobs and includes those who left their previous employment for another job and people who quit but are confident they will soon find new employment.

Also of note in Tuesday’s JOLTS report, layoffs and discharges were little changed, at 1.5 million in June.

For context, monthly job openings peaked in March 2022, the first month the Fed hiked interest rates, at over 12 million, so the most recent numbers mark about a 33% decline from that time.

Despite the signs of softening in recent JOLTS reports, the labor market has remained relatively resilient even as the Fed has raised interest rates.

The economy added 206,000 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate rose a tenth of a percentage point to 4.1%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported. While the unemployment rate has been trending up a bit in recent months, 4.1% is still a historically low rate. The next jobs report will be released on Friday.

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Other economic indicators hint at underlying resilience in the economy. GDP grew at a robust 2.8% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the second quarter of this year, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday in a preliminary estimate.