Job openings rose in first report since election – Washington Examiner

October job openings rose to 7.7 million, an increase of about 370,000 from the month before, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in an update to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Still, job openings are down more than 940,000 over the year.

Most economists expected that job openings would rise to about 7.5 million, so the report was better than forecast.

Job openings have trended down in the past few years, a sign that the jobs market is beginning to soften under the weight of the Fed’s efforts to tighten monetary policy.

Hiring was little changed in October. The hires rate was at 3.3%.

About 3.3 million workers quit their jobs in October, up 228,000 from the month before.

The figure is equivalent to about 2.1% of the workforce. The “quits rate” measures the share of people who voluntarily left their jobs. It includes those who left their previous employment for another job and people who quit but are confident they will soon find new employment.

The Fed has started cutting interest rates after hiking its target rate to the highest level it has been in years in response to towering inflation. Despite the high rates, the jobs market has been relatively resilient, although there have been some recent signs of weakening.

In the separate monthly jobs report for October, 12,000 jobs were added on net and the unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, according to the BLS.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Investors anticipated job growth to slow to 108,000, in part because of damage from hurricanes and a strike at Boeing, but the report was even worse than expected. Also of note, the private sector shed jobs for the first time since the pandemic.

The employment report for November will be released Friday morning.