US Job Openings Decline as Labour Market Steadily Slows

• U.S. job openings fell by the most in 14 months in December, but steady hiring and low layoffs suggested the labour market was not abruptly slowing down and that the Federal Reserve probably can hold off on cutting interest rates until at least June.

• The Labour Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday showed there were 1.1 job openings for every unemployed person, down from 1.15 in November.

• Following the JOLTS report release, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters last week, "We do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance." Senior Economic Advisor, Conrad DeQuadros, added that, "Fed officials are likely to judge this report as suggesting that the labour market has cooled from a previously overheated state, but that job demand remains solid relative to the available supply of workers."

• Job openings, a measure of labour demand, also decreased 556,000 to 7.6 million by the last day of December, the Labour Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. The decline was the largest since October 2023. The drop in job openings suggested there was no boost from President Donald Trump's Nov. 5 election victory, which saw business sentiment soaring on hopes for tax cuts and a less stringent regulatory environment.

• With the labour market cooling down, job-hopping is becoming less of a trend. The number of people voluntarily quitting their jobs rose by only 67,000 to 3.197 million, keeping the quits rate at 2.0%. The quits rate is viewed as a measure of labour market confidence, and the steady reading points to low wage inflation.

(Source: Reuters)