Job openings decreased, separations increased in July

The number of available jobs decreased in July and the number of people leaving their current positions increased, as the economy exhibited signs of cooling following a period of elevated interest rates.

Job openings were down to 7.7 million from a downwardly revised 7.9 million in June, the Labor Department reported Wednesday in its monthly job openings and labor turnover (JOLTS) survey.

Separations, which includes layoffs and quits, popped by 336,000 to 5.4 million from 5.1 million.

Analysts sounded downbeat on the news Wednesday.

"The JOLTS report ends up being another negative surprise regarding the state of the U.S. economy. Not only did the number of job openings decline month over month to nearly 7.7 million as of the end of July, but June openings were revised down by 274,000 to 7.9 million,” economic analyst Mark Hamrick of Bankrate wrote in a commentary.

The unemployment rate in the economy has been increasing since April, climbing from near-record lows over the past six months. Last month, it increased by 0.2 percentage points to 4.3 percent, triggering a notable recession indicator known as the Sahm rule.

Accordingly, the ratio of open jobs to job seekers has been decreasing after topping out at 2-to-1 at the end of 2022.

Analysts also cautioned Wednesday about some various kinds of stresses facing consumers.

“Consumer sentiment has been waning, hinting that we’ve been overdue for an uptick in unemployment,” Mark Goosay, an executive with Principal Asset Management said in a commentary.

“Credit card balances and delinquencies have been steadily growing since the pandemic, indicating a heightened reliance on debt by the consumer to maintain their standard of living,” he added.

Markets didn’t seem phased by the news Wednesday, with the Dow Jones jumping more than 130 points as of 10:40 a.m. Wednesday. Markets dropped sharply Tuesday on news of a slowdown in manufacturing.