Job Openings Slide, As Number Of Hires Unexpectedly Plunges

Job openings in the US unexpectedly dropped to 7.437 million in June, falling below the estimated 7.5 million. This decline of 275,000 from May's figures was more significant than anticipated. Major decreases in job openings were observed in accommodation and food services, health care, and finance. Conversely, retail trade, information, and local government education saw an increase in openings. Federal job openings remained near post-pandemic lows. Despite the drop, job openings still exceeded the number of unemployed workers, suggesting the labor market is not yet demand-constrained. The ratio of job openings to unemployed workers remained stable at 1.1x. The number of new hires experienced a sharp, unexpected plunge of 261,000. This brought the total hires to 5.204 million, the lowest in a year. Worker quits also declined unexpectedly by 128,000. This slump in hiring and quitting raises concerns about the stability of the US labor market.