The U.S. labor market showed signs of slowing down in August as job openings and resignations both declined.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 6.4 million open positions in August, down from 6.6 million in July. This marks the first monthly decline in the number of job openings in five months. Meanwhile, the number of workers who voluntarily resigned from their positions decreased from 3.3 million to 3.0 million.
The decrease in job openings could reflect employers’ signs of hesitation to take on more workers and their reluctance to boost wages amidst ongoing uncertainty in the global economy.
At the same time, the slowing job market could also be due to the fact that many Americans have already left the labor force, either due to childcare or health reasons, or to take a step out of the work world for some other reason.
Whatever the reason, the declining job openings and resignations could be evidence that the labor market is slowing down. This means bad news for workers who are already struggling to find jobs and make their paychecks last.
