Job openings fall as the U.S. economy shrinks

US employers posted fewer jobs in June as the economy grapples with raging inflation and rising interest rates.

Job postings fell to an even higher 10.7 million in June from 11.3 million in May, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. In its monthly survey of job openings and labor turnover, the Labor Department said the number of Americans leaving the workforce fell slightly in June, while layoffs fell.

“These data point to an inflection achieved in the number of job offers after 6 months in a row above 11 [million]Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Financial Group, said in a report.

The labor market has been resilient so far this year: Employers have added an average of 457,000 jobs per month in 2022; and unemployment is near the minimum of 50 years. This is one reason why many economists believe that the economy is not yet in recession even though gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, has hired for two quarters in a row – a general rule for the beginning of a crisis.

However, some analysts say that job growth is only an unreliable indicator of a recession, noting that hiring often remains strong in the early stages of a recession.

For example, in the three months immediately preceding the housing crash-induced recession that began in December 2007, the Labor Department’s monthly payrolls survey showed the economy gaining nearly 300,000 jobs of work per month, notes Albert Edwards of Societe Generale Cross Asset Research in a report. .

The Labor Department’s July jobs report, released Friday, is expected to show employers added another 250,000 jobs last month, which would be a healthy number in normal times but would be the lowest since of December 2020. Economists also expect unemployment to remain at 3.6% for the fifth straight month, according to a survey by data firm FactSet.

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