The number of jobs available in the United States decreased in October

Minneapolis
CNN Business
–

The number of vacancies in the United States decreased in October, but the job market remains historically tight nonetheless Efforts of the Federal Reserve to calm and reduce demand inflation.

There were 10.3 million jobs available last month, down from about 10.7 million in Septemberaccording to the latest Monthly Employment Opportunities and Employment Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Economists expected a 10.3 million opening in October, according to Refinitiv consensus estimates.

“Increased job opportunities during an economic downturn means the job market could remain tight for some time,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, in a statement. “Companies can hoard workers even though the economy may be in a recession.”

In October, the number of job vacancies decreased in state and local government, nondurable goods manufacturing and the federal government, according to the report.

There were about 1.7 jobs for every job seeker in October, down from 1.9 in September, according to BLS data. Federal Reserve officials They were watching this ratio closelyAs the tightness in the labor market means that employees have more leverage to command higher wages, which in turn leads to higher inflation.

“The mismatch between labor supply and demand has been an irritant for the Federal Reserve, which is striving to vanquish historically high inflation while also hoping to restore lost credibility,” Mark Hamrick, Bankrate’s chief economist, said in a statement.

As the number of job vacancies fell, other labor turnover metrics showed some signs that the volatile job market was cooling: The number of hiring cases fell to 4.03 million from 4.06 million, the number of hires decreased by about 84,000 to just over 6 million, and layoffs rose. to nearly 1.38 million from 1.33 million in the previous month.

Seasonal employment Julia Pollack, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, typically raises job postings in October by about 7%.

This year, however, that hiring has been pretty flat.

She said there appears to be a slowdown in technology and some interest rate-sensitive industries such as housing, but the effects are fairly contained in those industries.

“You’re seeing weakness in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street, but that’s still largely offset by strength and resilience on Main Street, where job growth continues to be supported by the pandemic recovery,” Pollack told CNN Business.

The JOLTS report arrived during a week filled with a slew of economic data – including the November jobs report on Friday – and a closely watched speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday. Ahead of the upcoming central bank policy meeting, where he and other Fed officials are expected to agree to a half-percentage-point increase in interest rates.

Earlier on Wednesday, ADP’s latest monthly private jobs report showed that the US private sector added just 127,000 jobs in November, a significant drop from the 239,000 added in October and the 200,000 economists had expected for November.

This hiring activity likely represents the filling of new job vacancies in exchange for replacing workers who have left for another job, Nella Richardson, chief economist at ADP, said Wednesday.

The smoking cessation rate, which registered 3% at the end of last year, fell to 2.6% in October after holding steady at 2.7% for the previous three months, according to JOLTS data.

“It suggests that the ‘great resignation’ has peaked and the level of replacement staff stifling is beginning to erode,” Richardson said.