Assessment: Fast forward one month and despite the sharp drop in job openings, since the number of unemployed people also dropped, there was still a staggering 2+ million more vacant jobs than unemployed workers confirming that the US labor market remains painfully cracked.
After seven consecutive months of massive increases in job openings (where even the weakest month saw a 290K increase and the strongest, July, saw a record 913K new jobs openings), moments ago the BLS reported that in August, the number of job openings in the US finally tumbled, dropping by a whopping 659K in August (recall the JOLTS report has an extra month delay vs the payrolls report), the third biggest drop on record, and the first monthly decline of 2021. Still, even with the big drop, the total number of job openings remains a solid 10.439 million, the second highest number on record!
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3
The sharp drop in openings took place one month before millions of Americans lost their emergency pandemic benefits, and while we have yet to see a big surge in payrolls as a result of millions of unemployed workers collecting benefits returning to the workforce, we expect continued declines in job openings in the coming months as more and more vacant jobs are filled. But not just yet.
Looking at the details, job openings decreased in several industries with the largest decreases in health care and social assistance (-224,000); accommodation and food services (-178,000); and state and local government education (-124,000). Job openings increased in federal government (+22,000). The number of job openings decreased in the Northeast and Midwest regions
As a reminder, when looking at the JOLTS report last month, we pointed out that for the first time ever, there were over 2 million more vacant jobs than unemployed workers. Read More @ Zero Hedge HERE
