June Job Openings Fall, Showing Potential Signs Of Economic Slowdown

The Labor Department reported on Tuesday that job openings decreased to 10.7 million down 605,000 for the month of June, hires were little changed at 6.4 million while total separations also remained steady at 5.9 million. This marks the lowest openings number since September, down from 11.3 million job openings in May, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The largest change in job openings came from the retail trade sector, seeing a decrease of 343,000 openings, while hires were mostly unchanged in all industries

Out of the total separations, the number of those who quit was little changed at 4.2 million or 3.9%, and layoffs and discharges came in at 1.3 million.

In the month of June, quits decreased in the construction industry by 51,000, while the wholesale trade sector saw 26,000 fewer layoffs and discharges.

The largest amount of job openings comes from the private sector as there are 9,766 openings, up 9% year-over-year, although down nearly 5% since May.

Go To: S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI: Production Falls As Demand Weakens - Where Is This Economic Trend Headed?

The Current Labor Environment: Over the past twelve months, labor costs have surged 5.1%, although when adjusting for inflation, labor costs fell 3.6% year-over-year, as reported by Reuters. Wages and salaries in the private sector increased by 1.6%.

According to the New York Post, technology companies laid off employees at the highest rate in the past two years, as there were roughly 13,600 layoffs across 52 companies in the first four months of 2022.

In June, Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) announced they would begin layoffs and let go of hundreds of employees, while Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) announced plans to cut 8,000 jobs in July.

Photo: Courtesy of Pioneer Library System on flickr