Job openings have fallen to their lowest levels in more than three years as employers pause hiring plans and fewer workers quit their positions.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) report, the number of job openings declined by 418,000 to 7.44 million in September, the lowest since January 2021.
This was down from 7.86 million in August, revised lower from 8.04 million.
The number of job vacancies came in below the consensus estimate of 7.99 million.
The sizable drop in job openings was concentrated mainly in health care and social assistance (minus 178,000), state and local government (minus 79,000), and federal government (minus 28,000)….