US job openings post biggest drop in nearly 2 1/2 years in August

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! Finance

Reuters

US job openings post biggest drop in nearly 2 1/2 years in August

Tue, October 4, 2022 at 10:14 AM

WASHINGTON, Oct 4(Reuters) - U.S. job openings fell by the most in nearly 2-1/2 years in August, though staying at high levels as demand for labor remains fairly strong, which could keep the Federal Reserve on its aggressive monetary policy tightening path.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, dropped 1.1 million to 10.1 million on the last day of August, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday.

August's decline was the largest since April 2020, when the economy was reeling from the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data for July was revised lower to show 11.170 million job openings instead of 11.239 million as previously reported.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 10.775 million vacancies.

The Fed is trying to cool demand for labor and the overall economy to bring inflation down to its 2% target. The U.S. central bank has since March hiked its policy rate from near zero to the current range of 3.00% to 3.25%, and last month signaled more large increases were on the way this year. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-job-openings-post-biggest-141456384.html

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I've got the report over in the Economy group.

BLS Report: August job openings decrease; hires and total separations change little

https://www.democraticunderground.com/111694337

[mathematic]

1. Which is still like 50% higher than its pre-covid high

These numbers confirm that the job market was still hot at the end of August and going into September, which should surprise nobody since weekly jobless numbers have been decreasing in September, not increasing.

Expect a good jobs report on Friday. My guess is that it looks like August's with a few hundred thousand new jobs and perhaps a slight uptick in unemployment rate.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Median forecast, up by 275,000

https://www.democraticunderground.com/111694280

https://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendar

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. US job openings sink as economy slows, cost to borrow rises

NATION | WORLD

US job openings sink as economy slows, cost to borrow rises

In their effort to combat the worst inflation in 40 years, the Fed has rapidly raised its key short-term interest rate to a range of 3% to 3.25%.

Author: CHRISTOPHER RUGABER (AP Economics Writer)
Published: 11:45 AM CDT October 4, 2022
Updated: 11:45 AM CDT October 4, 2022

WASHINGTON — The number of available jobs in the U.S. plummeted in August compared with July as businesses grow less desperate for workers, a trend that could cool chronically high inflation.

{snip}

The report pushed major U.S. markets higher because it is a potential sign that the Fed could slow its rapid pace of rate hikes, though most economists said that it would take more than one report to change the Fed's trajectory. The U.S. releases critical data on monthly employment on Friday.

{snip}

Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials hope that their interest rate hikes — the fastest in roughly four decades — will cause employers to slow their efforts to hire more people. Fewer job openings should reduce the pressure on companies to raise pay to attract and keep workers. Smaller pay raises, if sustained, could ease inflationary pressures.

“This helps bring that inflation pressure down and reassures the Fed that maybe there is a road out of this without dramatically pushing up the unemployment rate,” said Derek Tang, an economist at LHMeyer, an economic research firm.

{snip}

[yaesu]

4. The bankster controlled Fed wants to keep wages down so they have lots of financial slaves

for banks to take advantage of & help corporations with cheap labor.

[iemanja]

5. This is why the market rallied today

they love to see people without jobs.