Job openings declined in June while hiring also decreased, according to government data released Tuesday. The report comes as investors closely watch for any signs of slowing in the labor market amid a debate over when the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates again.
New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed 7.44 million jobs open at the end of June, a decrease from the 7.71 million seen the month prior. May’s report had shown the highest number of job openings since November 2024.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also showed that 5.2 million hires were made in June, down from the 5.47 million made during May. The hiring rate ticked lower to 3.3% from the 3.4% seen the month prior and stood at its lowest level since November 2024. In one sign that workers remain cautious about labor market conditions, the quits rate, a sign of confidence among workers, hovered at 2%.
Both the hiring and quits rates are hovering near decade lows, reflecting what economists have described as a labor market in “stasis.”
“The June JOLTS report painted a familiar picture of the labor market: hiring remains quite low, but so do layoffs,” Oxford Economics lead US economist Nancy Vanden Houten wrote in a research note following the release. “This will allow the Federal Reserve to keep policy steady as it waits for a clearer picture of how tariffs will impact inflation and growth.”
While the unemployment rate recently declined to 4.1% from 4.3% in June, Tuesday’s JOLTS report falls in line with a wide swath of recent labor market data that has shown signs of cooling in the labor market. ADP data showed private employers unexpectedly cut 33,000 jobs in June. This marked the first month of job losses in the private sector since March 2023. Meanwhile, continuing weekly filings for unemployment benefits have hovered near their highest level in more than three years.
Also released on Tuesday, the Conference Board’s latest consumer confidence survey showed Americans’ labor market outlook continues to soften. Notably, Americans’ appraisal of current job availability weakened for the seventh consecutive month, reaching its lowest point since March 2021. In July, 18.9% of consumers reported that jobs were hard to get, up from 14.5% in January, per the release.
Tuesday’s data kicks off a busy week of economic data, which will end with the release of the July jobs report on Friday. Economists expect 101,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were added to the US economy, with the unemployment rate inching higher to 4.2%, according to data from Bloomberg. In June, the US economy added 144,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 4.1%.
Josh Schafer is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X @_joshschafer.
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