U.S. job market shows slowed-down hiring
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The U.S. job market looks to have frozen up. Companies aren't doing large-scale layoffs — but they have slowed down hiring, and fewer workers are quitting their jobs voluntarily.
Why it matters: Employers are showing the least appetite for bringing on new workers in years. That's a byproduct of the economy cooling — though not so much that employers feel they need to let go of the staff they have.
Driving the news: There were 5.3 million hires in June, 314,000 fewer than in May, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey released Tuesday morning.
- The rate of hiring, at 3.4% of total employment, is the lowest since March 2020 and a half-point below its levels before the pandemic.
The other side: The freeze-up on the part of employers is benefiting workers who are already employed. The layoff and discharge rate was 0.9% — the lowest level on records that date back to 2000.
Between the lines: The Fed began a two-day meeting Tuesday morning at which its leaders will debate whether the labor market is deteriorating in ways that add urgency to interest rate cuts. The hiring numbers add to that evidence.
What they're saying: "If you hear people saying 'it's a really tough time to find a job,' this is why," tweeted Guy Berger, director of economic research at the Burning Glass Institute.
- "Last time hiring was this low, we were still digging our way out of the Great Recession," Berger added.
The big picture: Evidence that workers have less confidence about the labor market and other job opportunities has been building for months.
- The quits rate — a temperature check on workers' willingness to voluntarily leave their jobs — held at 2.1%, the lowest since August 2020.
The bottom line: Workers looking for new jobs won't find nearly the same opportunities as in recent years. But those with a job seem to have security, for now.
