Job openings have not been doing great for the past few years, acting as one factor in a low economy. Many Americans are struggling to find high quality work, and sometimes, any work at all. In March 2025 job openings continued to decline despite a stagnant level of hiring. This dip in the amount of jobs, however, has some Americans worried.
Job Openings Hit a Low
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that the number of job openings decreased from January to February by about 200,000 jobs. At the end of February the total amount of open jobs was about 7.57 million, the lowest level since September. This was lower than Bloomberg economists expected, as they were hoping for 7.66 million open jobs in February. Oxford Economics lead Nancy Vanden Houten commented on this situation. “The February JOLTS [Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey] report showed some cooling of labor market conditions but is unlikely to sway the Federal Reserve from its view that the job market is stable enough to withstand an extended period of unchanged interest rates as the central bank monitors progress on inflation” Vanden Houten said. According to CME FedWatch Tool, some investors believe there is a 66% chance that the Fed will cut interest rates.
The JOLTS survey indicated some positives as well. The survey showed that 5.4 million hires occurred in February, slightly higher than the 5.39 million in January. Additionally, the quits rate, or the percentage of voluntary job leavers, was about 2% in February, slightly down from the 2.1% in January. With lower hiring and quits rate, however, some are worried that the market will be in a bad spot if layoffs occur.
One believer in this theory is Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco. “If we think we’re going to see layoffs increase, which I very much anticipate going forward, and we continue to have pretty tepid job growth, that’s a problem”, Hooper said. As a result, that “underscores that message that the risk of stagflation, or at least a deceleration in the economy and potential recession, is increasing.”
Featured Image Credit: Anna Shvets; Pexels: Thank You!
