Job vacancies fall amid Fed efforts to chill jobs

Workers sort packages at a FedEx Express Cyber ​​Monday facility in Garden City, New York on Monday, November 28, 2022.

Michael Nagel | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Job listings fell in October amid efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool a sweltering job market, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

The Job Vacancy and Staff Turnover Survey, a closely watched gauge of labor shortages, showed that there were 10.3 million job vacancies that month. That’s down 353,000 from September and down 760,000 from a year ago.

That left 1.7 job openings per available worker for the month, up from a 2 to 1 ratio a few months ago.

The Fed has launched a series of rate hikes aimed at bringing down runaway inflation. One area of ​​particular focus was the extremely tight labor market, with an unemployment rate of 3.7% and wage increases adding to inflationary pressures.

While the monthly numbers can be volatile, the JOLTS report at least provided a measure that the Fed’s anti-inflation efforts might be having an effect. The report came on the same day that payroll company ADP reported job growth of just 127,000 in November, the lowest total since January 2021.

The level of terminations, a measure of workers’ confidence that they can easily move from one job to another, also fell, falling to 4.026 million, down 34,000 from a month ago and well below November’s record 4.5 million 2021 during the dubbing the “Great Resignation”.

The total number of breakups rose to 5.68 million, while layoffs and layoffs also increased by 58,000 to 1.39 million.

The Labor Department is due to release November wage growth figures on Friday. Economists are expecting job growth of 200k for the month, according to Dow Jones estimates.

Correction: ADP reported job growth of 127,000 in November, the lowest total since January 2021. A previous version got the timing wrong. Economists are expecting job growth of 200,000 in November, according to Dow Jones estimates. Previous versions gave the month and number incorrectly.

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