Job openings fall to 28-low and fewer workers quit as labor market cools off

Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast job listings to total 9.5 million.

The number of job openings is seen as a sign of the health of the labor market and the broader U.S. economy.

Job postings have dropped from a record 12 million last year partly because of a surge in hiring, but also because businesses have become more cautious amid worries about a recession.

The number of people quitting jobs, meanwhile, sank to 3.5 million and touched the lowest level in two and a half years. Job quitters had topped 4 million two years ago and the number only began to decline this year.

People are more likely to quit when they think it’s easy to get a better job, but they tend to stay put when the economy weakens.

Big picture: The Federal Reserve has sharply raised interest rates to slow inflation, but higher borrowing costs have not depressed the economy as much as they normally do.

The economy has continued to expand at a steady pace and the number of jobs being created — though slowing — is increasing twice as fast as the Fed would like.

Still, Fed officials are sure to welcome the decline in job openings and slowdown in hiring.The central bank is worried that a persistently tight labor market — too many jobs and not enough workers — could keep upward pressure on worker pay.

That could make it harder for the Fed to get inflation back down to pre-crisis levels of 2% or less.

Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.40%
and S&P 500
SPX,
+0.69%
rose in Tuesday trades.