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1h ago

Job Openings Ease to 7.36 Million as Hiring Rises

Softer-than-expected JOLTS data could give the Federal Reserve more room to focus on inflation.

FILE - Construction workers rebuild a house previously destroyed in a fire, June 25, 2026, in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Photo: AgnosticPreachersKid / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
The number of job openings has trended higher in recent months, indicating employers have a bigger appetite for more workers. Economists expected that job openings would fall in June to 7.4 million.
FILE - The Washington Monument is visible as a worker climbs up the side of a Ferris wheel that is being constructed as part of Freedom 250's Great American State Fair on the National Mall on June 19, 2026, in Washington. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Overview

  • The Labor Department's JOLTS report, released Tuesday, showed job openings fell by about 178,000 to roughly 7.359 million while hires rose by about 96,000 to roughly 5.348 million.
  • Layoffs and discharges were little changed at about 1.77–1.8 million and the layoff rate held near 1.1%, indicating firms are not broadly cutting staff.
  • Healthcare and social assistance drove the largest drop in vacancies with about 147,000 fewer openings, and leisure, wholesale trade and some manufacturers also reported steep declines.
  • Economists say the pattern fits a 'slow-hire, slow-fire' market that cools demand gradually and could reduce near-term pressure for additional Fed rate hikes.
  • Analysts warn the JOLTS sample response rate has fallen, which makes short-term comparisons less reliable, and they say markets should watch next week’s July payrolls and energy-price risks tied to fighting around the Strait of Hormuz.