Available jobs increased in October, while hiring declined as payrolls growth reached its lowest level in almost four years, according to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday.
In October, job openings reached 7.74 million, a rise of 372,000 from September, exceeding the Dow Jones estimate of 7.5 million. The rate of job openings as a percentage of the labor force increased from 4.4% to 4.6%.
This increase brought the ratio of available positions to unemployed workers to 1.1, approximately half of the level seen during the peak of a significant gap between supply and demand in 2022.
Hiring decreased during a period when the labor market faced disruptions due to severe storms in the Southeast and two major labor strikes involving dockworkers and Boeing. Hires totaled 5.31 million, down by 269,000 from the previous month, resulting in a decrease in the hiring rate to 3.3%, a decline of 0.2 percentage points.
However, layoffs decreased to 1.63 million, a drop of 169,000 from September, while voluntary job quitters increased to 3.33 million, up by 228,000 from the previous month.
These figures are from a month when the BLS reported nonfarm payroll growth of only 12,000, marking the worst month since December 2020.
The Federal Reserve closely monitors the JOLTS report for indications of tightness or slack in the labor market. Market expectations suggest that the Fed will reduce its benchmark borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point at its upcoming meeting, partly to preempt any potential weakness in the labor market.
