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Job openings dropped in December, widely missing economists’ expectations and tumbling to the lowest level since 2020, according to government data released Thursday.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — originally scheduled to be published on Tuesday but delayed by the partial government shutdown — showed there were 6.5 million jobs open at the end of December. Economists polled by Bloomberg had projected 7.25 million openings for the month.
Layoffs and discharges, at 1.8 million, increased slightly from 1.7 million a month earlier. The data was collected before recent announcements of sweeping job cuts from firms including Amazon (AMZN) and UPS (UPS).
The hiring rate, meanwhile, improved slightly from a month prior, reaching 3.3%. The quits rate, often seen as a barometer of workers’ confidence to jump from their current post to search for greener pastures, also remained at 2%.
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Thursday’s read on openings from the Labor Department was accompanied by a batch of not-great data on the state of the job market.
Private statistics released by the global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday showed that layoff announcements swelled in January to the highest level for the month since 2009, though some economists have cautioned that Challenger’s data can be volatile and less reliable than government tallies.
Meanwhile, initial claims for unemployment insurance also hit 231,000 last week, up by 22,000 from the week prior, Labor Department data showed, though severe winter weather likely played a role in the number of people seeking social assistance.
Data from the payroll processor ADP out Wednesday also showed that private-sector employers added fewer-than-expected positions last month, while job growth for December was revised lower.
Emma Ockerman is a reporter covering the economy and labor for Yahoo Finance. You can reach her at emma.ockerman@yahooinc.com.
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