U.S. employers posted 8.7 million job openings in October, the Associated Press reports, the fewest since March 2021, in a sign that hiring is cooling in the face of higher interest rates yet remains at a still-healthy pace.
The Labor Department’s report today said that openings were down significantly from 9.4 million in September; layoffs were up modestly in October; and the number of Americans who quit their jobs — which generally reflects confidence in their ability to find better pay or working conditions elsewhere — was down slightly.
The drop in job openings last month was particularly steep in health care and social assistance, falling by 236,000; finance, which includes banking, insurance, and real estate — and which has been hit particularly hard by higher interest rates — was down 217,000; and hotels, restaurants, and bars were down 124,000.
Despite the sharp drop in October, however, job openings remain at historically high levels. They have now exceeded 8 million for 32 straight months — a threshold they had never reached before 2021.
