Recent Updates
- US: Monthly Treasury Statement, Wholesale Trade (Jun), Consumer Prices (Jul)
- Brazil: Retail Trade (Jul)
- North Macedonia: Central Bank Bills (Jul)
- Albania: Banking system liabilities (Q2)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Federal Government Budget Deficit Shrinks in July
The U.S. Treasury Department reported a federal budget deficit of $211.1 billion in July...
U.S. Mortgage Applications Rose Slightly in the Latest Week
Mortgage applications increased 0.2% (-62.9% y/y) from one week earlier...
U.S. Productivity Declines in Q2, Pushing Unit Labor Costs Higher
Nonfarm business sector productivity fell 4.6% (AR) during Q2'22...
U.S. Small Business Optimism Edged Up in July
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index edged up to 89.9 in July...
U.S. Gasoline & Crude Oil Prices Continue Weakening
Retail gasoline prices declined to $4.04 per gallon (+27.3% y/y) last week...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller August 2, 2022
• The number of job openings fall for third consecutive month.
• New hires are off for fourth straight month.
• Separations decline with fewer quits.
Job openings fell 5.4% to 10.698 million (+8.6% y/y) during June from 11.303 million in May, revised from 11.254 million according the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover report. This was the third consecutive monthly decline, down 9.8% during that period. The job openings rate (job openings as a percentage of the sum of establishment employment plus openings) fell to 6.6% in June from 6.9% in May. The series high was 7.3% in March.
New hires retreated 2.0% (-0.6% y/y) to 6.374 million from 6.507 million in May, revised from 6.489 million. It was the fourth straight month of decline for new hires and the hiring rate, which eased to 4.2% from 4.3%. The hiring rate hit a peak of 4.5% in February.
The total number of job separations fell 1.4% (+2.4% y/y) to 5.931 million from 6.017 million in May, revised from 5.983 million. Quits dipped 1.2% (+5.0% y/y) to 4.237 million from 4.274 million in May. It was their lowest level since October of last year. Fewer quits indicate that jobs are becoming less readily available. The quit rate held steady at 2.8%, down from 3.0% six months earlier. Layoffs and discharges, involuntary separations, declined 6.3% in June (-2.5% y/y) to 1.327 (-2.5% y/y) from 1.416 million in May. They have been trending sideways since April 2021.
Private-sector job openings fell 5.0% (+9.0% y/y) to 9.766 million, down for the third straight month. The private-sector job openings rate declined to 7.0%, the lowest level in 12 months. The largest monthly drops in job openings occurred in trade, transportation & utilities (+10.9% y/y) as well as construction (+4.0% y/y) & manufacturing (-11.5% y/y).
Total hires in the private sector fell 2.3% (-0.9% y/y) to 5.957 million in June while total private-sector separations weakened 1.8% (+1.2% y/y) to 5.547 million.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) are available in Haver's USECON database.
