United States has witnessed a massive decline in the number of job openings in June 2023. The number of job openings in the US market dropped to 9.582 million in June, the lowest level in more than two years.
Despite the Federal Reserve's significant interest rate hikes, job openings declined by 34,000 by the end of the month, indicating a decrease in labour demand. Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reported on Tuesday that this figure is the lowest since April 2021.
Furthermore, job openings for May were revised downward to 9.616 million instead of the originally reported 9.824 million. According to Reuters, 9.610 million job openings were predicted for June by economists.
As per the reports, a total of 248,000 layoffs and discharges occurred simultaneously, raising the rate as a percentage of the workforce from 1% to 1.2%. The number of job vacancies was recorded as the lowest since April 2021, and as a result, the ratio of jobs accessible to the workers dropped to 1.6 to 1 from around 2 to 1 over the past two years.
Chief Market Strategist at Lazard, Ronald Temple said that the FED should have gained a sigh of relief due to the gradual decline in this ratio. However, it is expected that this data will confirm that tomorrow's hike will be necessary.
