ARI SHAPIRO: It's not a great time to be looking for a new job. The number of job openings has fallen to its lowest level in more than 3 1/2 years. The slowdown in the once sizzling job market could be a warning sign for the Federal Reserve as it decides how much to cut interest rates later this month. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: The drop in job openings reported by the Labor Department today was bigger than forecasters had expected. Economist Nick Bunker, who's with the Indeed Hiring Lab, says that could be a worrisome indication that the job market is not just going back to normal after a period of rapid growth, but rather sliding into a funk.
NICK BUNKER: The labor market's cooled off considerably, and if we continue to see this labor market cool down, the temperature is going to get frigid and uncomfortable. And no one wants that.
HORSLEY: Employers, who'd been clamoring for workers not so long ago, are taking down their help wanted signs, and people just joining the workforce are having to look longer to find jobs. On the positive side, today's report shows layoffs are still uncommon. For the most part, employers are hanging on to the workers they already have. And gone are the days when workers were quitting in droves in search of better opportunities. Workers who have jobs today are increasingly reluctant to give them up.
BUNKER: We've gone through this period of lots of churn, lots of people going and seizing the opportunities, to now people not finding opportunities to go switch to, and if they have a job, hunkering down in the position they already have.
HORSLEY: With less turnover in the job market, wages aren't likely to climb so fast, and the Federal Reserve no longer has to worry so much that an overheated job market will add to inflation. Instead, the central bank now has to worry about rising unemployment. The jobless rate has jumped almost a full percentage point in the last year, although it's still low by historical standards. We'll get a more complete picture of the job market on Friday when the Labor Department is set to report on job gains and the unemployment rate for August. Policymakers at the Fed will be watching closely. The central bank is already expected to start cutting interest rates this month, and if there are further signs of weakness in the job market, those rate cuts will likely be more aggressive. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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