Moderate US Job Openings, Weak Hiring Underscore Labour Market Stagnation

• U.S. job openings increased marginally in August while hiring declined, consistent with lacklustre labour market conditions that could allow the Federal Reserve (Fed) to cut interest rates again next month despite resilient consumer spending.
• Households are also growing pessimistic about the labour market. A survey from the Conference Board on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, showed the share of consumers viewing jobs as "plentiful" fell this month to the lowest level since early 2021. There were 0.98 job openings for every unemployed person in August, compared to 1.0 in July.
• The labour market has almost stagnated amid slowing demand for workers, with economists blaming a lagging drag from uncertainty stemming from tariffs on imports as well as the rise of artificial intelligence. An immigration crackdown has also reduced labour supply, creating what Fed Chair Jerome Powell has described as a "curious balance."
• Job openings, a measure of labour demand, rose 19,000 to 7.227 million by the last day of August, the Labour Department's Bureau of Labour Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 7.185 million unfilled jobs. Hiring decreased 114,000 to 5.126 million in August, concentrated in the trade, transportation and utilities industry. Accommodation and food services hiring also declined, likely the result of immigration raids that have led to deportations and kept fearful workers at home.
• The report could be the last key economic data for a while, given the current US government shutdown. The Labour and Commerce departments said on Monday that all data releases, including September's employment report due on Friday, would be suspended.
• Economists expect the Fed to put more emphasis on the labour market, though a government shutdown would leave policymakers without key data ahead of their October 28-29 meeting. "The Fed has a bias to cut unless the labour market shows signs of improvement, but the fog the central bank sets monetary policy in may get thicker because the partial federal government shutdown could delay the release of the September employment report," said Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics.

(Source: Reuters)