US job openings rebound in August; hiring soft

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. job openings unexpectedly increased in August after two straight monthly decreases, but hiring was soft and consistent with a slowing labor market.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, rebounded by 329,000 to 8.040 million by the last day of August, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday.

Data for July was revised higher to show 7.711 million unfilled positions instead of the previously reported 7.673 million. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 7.660 million job openings. Hires slipped 99,000 to 5.317 million. Layoffs declined by 105,000 to 1.608 million.

The Federal Reserve last month cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large 50 basis points to the 4.75%-5.00% range, the first reduction in borrowing costs since 2020, in a nod to rising concerns over the labor market’s health.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a National Association for Business Economics conference on Monday that “labor market conditions have clearly cooled over the past year,” but added “this is not a (Federal Open Market) committee that feels like it is in a hurry to cut rates quickly.”

The Fed is expected to cut interest rates again in November and December. The focus now shifts to the employment report for September which is due to be released on Friday.

Nonfarm payrolls likely increased by 140,000 jobs last month after rising by 142,000 in August. That would be well below the average monthly gain of 202,000 jobs over the past 12 months.

The unemployment rate is forecast to be unchanged at 4.2%. It has risen from 3.4% in April 2023 as a surge in immigration boosted labor supply.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)