Job Openings Fell in February, JOLTS Report Shows

Demand for workers in the United States eased in February, a sign that the red-hot labor market continues to cool off somewhat.

There were 9.9 million job openings, compared with a revised 10.6 million on the last day of January, the Labor Department reported Tuesday in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as JOLTS.

A drop in open positions is a signal that the labor market is slowing down, but the report also showed that it remains healthy: Four million workers quit their jobs during the month, a slight increase relative to January, and the number of layoffs decreased slightly to 1.5 million.

There were 1.7 jobs open for every unemployed worker in February, compared with 1.9 in January, a measure the Federal Reserve has been paying close attention to as it looks to cool hiring, part of its effort to contain inflation.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/business/economy/february-jolts-jobs-report.html