Job openings remain at healthy levels but have fallen steadily since peaking at a record 12.1 million in March 2022 as the US economy roared back from COVID-19 lockdowns.
Also Read: US growth likely to slow to 1.6% this year, hobbled by Trump’s trade wars, OECD saysThe US job market has lost momentum this year, partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023 and partly because President Donald Trump’s trade wars have created uncertainty that is paralyzing managers making hiring decisions.
On Friday, the Labour Department will put out unemployment and hiring numbers for August. They are expected to show that businesses, government agencies and nonprofits added nearly 80,000 jobs last month, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet. That would mark a modest improvement on the disappointing 73,000 they created in July.
Worse than the lacklustre July hiring figures were Labour Department revisions that slashed a stunning 258,000 jobs off May and June payrolls. A furious Trump responded to the bad numbers by firing the head of the Bureau of Labour Statistics, the technocratic agency that compiles the statistics, and nominating a partisan ideologue to replace her.
Also Read: US economy grows 3.3% in second quarter, government says, in second estimate of April-June growth
So far this year, the economy has been generating 85,000 jobs a month, down from 168,000 last year and an average of 400,000 a month during the hiring boom of 2021-2023. In a time of uncertainty, employers are less likely to hire, but they’re not letting workers go either. Layoffs remain below pre-pandemic levels.
