By Sylvan Lane
The Hill (08/30/2022)
The July Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) report showed the job market powering through rising interest rates meant to ease a labor shortage
“Even if economic growth slows, today’s report shows the labor market remains strong,” wrote AnnElizabeth Konkel, senior economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, in a Tuesday analysis.
U.S. employers had roughly 11.2 million open jobs on the final business day of July, in line with revised figures from June. There are nearly two job openings listed for each one of the 5.7 million Americans who reported being unemployed in July, according to Labor Department data.
“Given the Federal Reserve wants to see this metric fall, today’s rise is not the direction they were hoping to see,” Konkel explained.
“Moreover, this increase underscores that some employers will continue to face hiring challenges. And with job openings at 11.2 million, employer demand for workers is still robust.”
Businesses hired roughly 6.4 million new workers in July and lost 5.9 million for a net increase of roughly 500,000 jobs. Of the nearly 6 million Americans who left jobs in July, 4.2 million quit on their own accord, likely to take a job with better compensation or career opportunities elsewhere.