Demand for Workers Slumps as Job Openings Tumble To Lowest Since 2021

The number of jobs available for U.S. workers fell more than expected in July, tumbling to the lowest level since the economy as still recovering form the pandemic in January of 2021.

The Department of Labor said there were 7.7 million open jobs as of the last business day of July. The prior month’s estimate was revised down to 7.9 million from 8.2 million.

Economists had forecast 8.1 million openings.

The decline in openings follows several reports last month that suggested a weakening labor market, including data pointing to an unusually large revision in the jobs figures for the year through March and a weaker-than-expected payrolls report for July. Softness in the jobs market cast a cloud over Vice President Kamala Harris’s claims that the Biden-Harris economy is strong.

Openings fell by 187,000 in health care and social assistance. State and local job openings, excluding education, fell by 100,000. State and local education openings fell by 21,000. Private education saw openings shrink by 9,000.

Openings in the economically sensitive transportation, warehousing, and utilities category fell by 88,000. Openings in construction fell by 51,000. Leisure and hospitality saw a small 2,000 decline to 941,000.

The federal government was a notable exception to the trend of falling openings, rising by 28,000. The manufacturing sector added 31,000 openings, almost all in durable goods.

Openings were extremely elevated in the post-pandemic era, hitting a record high 12.2 million in March 2022. They’ve been climbing down ever since and are now approaching the level that prevailed from 2018 until the start of the pandemic.

The number of quits held steady at 3.3 million but was down by 338,000 over the year. Over the month, the quits rate was also steady at 2.1 percent.

The number of layoffs was nearly unchanged at 1.8 million and the layoff rate was steady at 1.1 percent.

The drop in openings is likely to bolster the case for the Fed to cut rates several times in the months ahead.