Overview
- Employers posted roughly 6.9 million vacancies in January, up from about 6.6 million in December and above consensus forecasts near 6.75 million.
- Hiring held near 5.29 million with a 3.3% hires rate, signaling little change in the pace of bringing workers on board.
- The quits rate stayed at 2.0% with about 3.14 million voluntary departures, indicating steady but subdued worker confidence.
- Layoffs fell to about 1.63 million, lowering the layoffs rate to 1.0% and reinforcing a cautious, low-fire environment.
- Openings increased in finance and insurance, health care and social assistance, retail, and leisure and hospitality, as analysts continued to cite high rates, policy uncertainty, AI adoption, tariffs, and immigration restrictions as hiring headwinds.