Job Openings Fall In September

Despite an anemic jobs report last week, job openings fell for the first time since May, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics…(BLS)

  • Job openings decreased to 10.4 million (-659,000) on the last business day of August.
  • Health care and social assistance saw the biggest drop at 224,000 followed by accommodation & food services (-178,000) and state & local government education (-124,000).

NOTE: The number and rate of hires decreased to 6.3 million (-439,000) and 4.3%, respectively.

The major evidence of a tight labor market is the continued rise of quits every month as employees get better offers from rival companies…

  • Quits increased in August to 4.3 million (+242,000) and the rate increased to a series high of 2.9%.
  • Food services saw the most quits at 157,000 followed by wholesale trade (+26,000) and state and local government education (+25,000).

NOTE: In a sign that we could see some cooling in housing, real estate and rental leasing saw the biggest decline in quits at 23,000.