Job openings fell last month to the lowest level in three-and-a-half years, data from the Department of Labor showed Tuesday.
Openings declined to 7.44 million in September from 7.86 million in the prior month, the Department of Labor’s Job Openings and Labort Turnover Survey showed.
That’s the fewest job postings since January of 2021. Openings peaked at 12 million in 2022. Economists had forecast 7.9 million openings.
The number of quits and layoffs was close to unchanged, the Labor Department said. Hiring was also steady.
The JOLTS report counts openings as of the last business day of the month. It appears to confirm the idea that while businesses are no longer building up their workforce, they are retaining the employees they have.
