As the labour market gradually slowed down, there were fewer job postings in the United States in July, which raised hopes that the Federal Reserve would maintain interest rates at their current levels next month.
The Labour Department's Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, released on Tuesday also revealed a decline in the number of people departing their jobs to levels last recorded in early 2021, suggesting that Americans' confidence in the labour market was waning.
A survey by the Conference Board that revealed consumers' opinions on the labour market cooled in August supported that. With 1.51 job vacancies for every unemployed individual in July compared to 1.54 in June, the labour market is still tight.
Even though it was the lowest ratio since September 2021, it is still significantly higher than the 1.0-1.2 range seen to be indicative of a labour market that is not too inducing inflation. By historical standards, there have been extremely few layoffs.
"Although the labor market is still tight, the degree of excess demand is declining and is coming about through companies reducing the number of vacancies rather than increasing layoffs and unemployment," said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital in New York. "There is plenty here to make the case that not only is the labor market rebalancing but at this point it is doing so without pushing up unemployment."
On the last day of July, the number of job postings, a gauge of labour demand, fell by 338,000 to 8.827 million, the lowest level since March 2021. Reuters polled economists, who predicted 9.465 million job vacancies.
The industry with the most job opportunities, professional and business services, saw a 198,000 reduction. Healthcare and social assistance had 130,000 fewer unfilled posts, while state and local government, excluding education, had 67,000 fewer vacancies.
There were 62,000 fewer job openings in state and local government education, and there were 27,000 fewer jobs in the federal government. But in the information sector, there were 101,000 more empty positions. The transportation, warehousing, and utilities industry had an additional 75,000 available positions.
From 5.5% in June, the rate of job vacancies decreased to 5.3%, the lowest level since February 2021. The South, which has had an employment growth, saw a greater drop in vacancies. While there was a little decline in the Midwest, there were more job vacancies in the Northeast and West.
August's sluggish job growth is anticipated to reflect decreasing job vacancies. After reporting in July the second-smallest gain since December 2020, economists anticipate that the growth in nonfarm payrolls will have further slowed in August.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that the U.S. central bank "will proceed carefully as we consider whether to tighten further or, alternatively, to hold the policy rate constant and await further developments" on Friday at the annual Jackson Hole economic conference in Wyoming.
According to the FedWatch Tool of the CME Group, financial markets anticipate that the U.S. central bank will maintain its benchmark overnight interest rate at its policy meeting next month.
"With reports like this, the Fed can most likely keep rates unchanged in September," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Wall Street stocks were trading higher. In relation to a currency basket, the dollar decreased. Treasury prices increased.
Despite 525 basis points of interest rate increases from the Fed since March 2022, the labour market has mostly held up, in part because companies filled positions that were vacant due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After having trouble filling positions during the pandemic, businesses have also been hesitant to fire employees. The unemployment rate, which was 3.5% in July, was close to levels last seen more than 50 years ago.
But the unemployment rate might increase in August. The so-called labour market disparity, calculated by the Conference Board using information on respondents' perceptions of how easy or difficult it is to get a job, shrunk to 26.2% this month.
That decreased from 32.4% in July and was the lowest level since April 2021.
This indicator is correlated with the unemployment rate in the widely regarded employment report from the Labour Department.
Consumer confidence decreased this month as a result of waning labour market optimism and an increase in petrol costs, wiping the back-to-back increases in June and July.
Although there isn't a direct correlation between consumer confidence and expenditure, economists saw the decline in spirits as an indication of a faltering economy.
Numerous economists think the Fed's cycle of rate increases is over, raising the likelihood of moderate growth rather than the anticipated recession since last year.
"The labor market is slowly cooling and this helps make the case for an economic soft landing where inflation can be brought under control without triggering the massive job losses seen in recessions," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York.
The lowest level of hiring since January 2021, according to the JOLTS report, was 5.773 million. From 3.8% in June, the hiring rate decreased to 3.7%, the lowest level since April 2020.
The number of resignations dropped by 253,000 to 3.549 million, the fewest since February 2021. The industry for lodging and food services saw the most drop. Wholesale trade, transportation, warehousing, and utilities saw declines as well, along with finance, education, and health services.
A decrease in job hopping could help contain wage growth. As a gauge of labour market confidence, the quit rate decreased to 2.3%. That was down from 2.4% in June and represented the lowest figure since January 2021.
At 1.555 million, layoffs and discharges hardly changed.
"The quits rates ... suggests workers are becoming less confident in their ability to find a new, perhaps higher paying job," said Scott Anderson, chief economist at the Bank of the West in San Francisco.
(Source:www nbcnews.com)
The Labour Department's Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, released on Tuesday also revealed a decline in the number of people departing their jobs to levels last recorded in early 2021, suggesting that Americans' confidence in the labour market was waning.
A survey by the Conference Board that revealed consumers' opinions on the labour market cooled in August supported that. With 1.51 job vacancies for every unemployed individual in July compared to 1.54 in June, the labour market is still tight.
Even though it was the lowest ratio since September 2021, it is still significantly higher than the 1.0-1.2 range seen to be indicative of a labour market that is not too inducing inflation. By historical standards, there have been extremely few layoffs.
"Although the labor market is still tight, the degree of excess demand is declining and is coming about through companies reducing the number of vacancies rather than increasing layoffs and unemployment," said Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at Brean Capital in New York. "There is plenty here to make the case that not only is the labor market rebalancing but at this point it is doing so without pushing up unemployment."
On the last day of July, the number of job postings, a gauge of labour demand, fell by 338,000 to 8.827 million, the lowest level since March 2021. Reuters polled economists, who predicted 9.465 million job vacancies.
The industry with the most job opportunities, professional and business services, saw a 198,000 reduction. Healthcare and social assistance had 130,000 fewer unfilled posts, while state and local government, excluding education, had 67,000 fewer vacancies.
There were 62,000 fewer job openings in state and local government education, and there were 27,000 fewer jobs in the federal government. But in the information sector, there were 101,000 more empty positions. The transportation, warehousing, and utilities industry had an additional 75,000 available positions.
From 5.5% in June, the rate of job vacancies decreased to 5.3%, the lowest level since February 2021. The South, which has had an employment growth, saw a greater drop in vacancies. While there was a little decline in the Midwest, there were more job vacancies in the Northeast and West.
August's sluggish job growth is anticipated to reflect decreasing job vacancies. After reporting in July the second-smallest gain since December 2020, economists anticipate that the growth in nonfarm payrolls will have further slowed in August.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that the U.S. central bank "will proceed carefully as we consider whether to tighten further or, alternatively, to hold the policy rate constant and await further developments" on Friday at the annual Jackson Hole economic conference in Wyoming.
According to the FedWatch Tool of the CME Group, financial markets anticipate that the U.S. central bank will maintain its benchmark overnight interest rate at its policy meeting next month.
"With reports like this, the Fed can most likely keep rates unchanged in September," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Wall Street stocks were trading higher. In relation to a currency basket, the dollar decreased. Treasury prices increased.
Despite 525 basis points of interest rate increases from the Fed since March 2022, the labour market has mostly held up, in part because companies filled positions that were vacant due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After having trouble filling positions during the pandemic, businesses have also been hesitant to fire employees. The unemployment rate, which was 3.5% in July, was close to levels last seen more than 50 years ago.
But the unemployment rate might increase in August. The so-called labour market disparity, calculated by the Conference Board using information on respondents' perceptions of how easy or difficult it is to get a job, shrunk to 26.2% this month.
That decreased from 32.4% in July and was the lowest level since April 2021.
This indicator is correlated with the unemployment rate in the widely regarded employment report from the Labour Department.
Consumer confidence decreased this month as a result of waning labour market optimism and an increase in petrol costs, wiping the back-to-back increases in June and July.
Although there isn't a direct correlation between consumer confidence and expenditure, economists saw the decline in spirits as an indication of a faltering economy.
Numerous economists think the Fed's cycle of rate increases is over, raising the likelihood of moderate growth rather than the anticipated recession since last year.
"The labor market is slowly cooling and this helps make the case for an economic soft landing where inflation can be brought under control without triggering the massive job losses seen in recessions," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS in New York.
The lowest level of hiring since January 2021, according to the JOLTS report, was 5.773 million. From 3.8% in June, the hiring rate decreased to 3.7%, the lowest level since April 2020.
The number of resignations dropped by 253,000 to 3.549 million, the fewest since February 2021. The industry for lodging and food services saw the most drop. Wholesale trade, transportation, warehousing, and utilities saw declines as well, along with finance, education, and health services.
A decrease in job hopping could help contain wage growth. As a gauge of labour market confidence, the quit rate decreased to 2.3%. That was down from 2.4% in June and represented the lowest figure since January 2021.
At 1.555 million, layoffs and discharges hardly changed.
"The quits rates ... suggests workers are becoming less confident in their ability to find a new, perhaps higher paying job," said Scott Anderson, chief economist at the Bank of the West in San Francisco.
(Source:www nbcnews.com)
