Job Openings Near Two-Year Low as Layoffs Jump

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

ECONOMY * U.S. ECONOMY

Job Openings Near Two-Year Low as Layoffs Jump

Construction, leisure and hospitality and healthcare cuts drove March increase in layoffs

By Gwynn Guilford
https://twitter.com/sinoceros
[e-mail]
Updated May 2, 2023 12:01 pm ET

U.S. job openings dropped to their lowest level in nearly two years in March and layoffs rose sharply, in signs that demand for workers is cooling a year after the Federal Reserve began lifting interest rates to combat inflation.

Layoffs rose to a seasonally adjusted 1.8 million in March from the prior month, up from a revised 1.6 million in February, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The increase was led by job losses in construction, leisure and hospitality and healthcare industries—sectors that have driven job growth in recent months as tech, finance and other white-collar industries cooled.

{paywall}



Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-layoffs-jumped-in-march-as-job-openings-fell-3805c6a1

---

BLS report: March job openings decrease; layoffs and discharges increase

https://www.democraticunderground.com/111695802

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm

Economic News Release USDL-23-0868

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary
For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Technical information: [phone] • [e-mail] • www.bls.gov/jlt
Media contact: [phone] • [e-mail]

JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – MARCH 2023

The number of job openings decreased to 9.6 million on the last business day of March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, the number of hires and total separations were little changed at 6.1 million and 5.9 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (3.9 million) changed little, while layoffs and discharges (1.8 million) increased. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector, by industry, and by establishment size class.

{snip}

[IronLionZion]

1. Fed is getting what it wants

slowing down the economy with high interest rates. This will constrain consumer demand somewhat, and I guess at some point it will reduce inflation. Maybe.

The US can very quickly switch from nobody wants to work anymore to they're stealing our jobs. The timing could be better as all this should have happened earlier in the election cycle so that we would bounce back by November 2024. Oh well.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Powell is determined to drive us into recession right before the election.

[Carlitos Brigante]

3. Maybe he can give a speech later, with a "Mission Accomplished" banner behind him. nt