According to a Labor Department data released Tuesday, job postings decreased in December but hiring, voluntary resignation, and layoffs were unchanged.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, the number of open positions fell to 7.6 million, the lowest since September, and below the Dow Jones projection of 8 million. The ratio of available workers to open jobs was reduced to 1.1 to 1.
The Federal Reserve regularly monitors the report for indications of a tight or slack labor market, even though it comes one month after other jobs statistics.
The number of openings decreased by 556,000 during the month, even though the net gain in nonfarm payrolls increased by 256,000. Openings as a percentage of the labor force fell to 4.5%, which is 0.4 percentage points lower than November.
Financial activities fell by 166,000, private education and health services fell by 194,000, and professional and business services fell by 225,000.
Treasury yields were divided as the study revealed a comparatively strong job market as 2024 approached to an end, but major stock market averages increased in response to the news.
Layoffs decreased by barely 29,000 to a total of 1.77 million for the month, while hires increased to 5.46 million and departures slightly increased to about 3.2 million. At 5.27 million, total separations also did not change much.
Only a few days before the BLS releases the January nonfarm payrolls count, the report is released. With the unemployment rate remaining constant at 4.1%, it is anticipated that 169,000 new jobs will be created.
In recent days, Fed officials have been cautious about the direction of monetary policy as they monitor the effects of last year’s series of interest rate reduction as well as fiscal policy, which includes possible tariffs against the biggest trading partners of the United States. Markets do not anticipate any rate cuts until at least June after the central bank decided last week to maintain its benchmark borrowing rate at 4.25% to 4.50%.
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