“Now Hiring” signed at the Journeys Store in Brooklyn Autonomous Borough, New York on June 3, 2025.
Adam Gray | Bloomberg | Getty Images
In July, employment openings fell to levels rarely seen since the Covid-19 pandemic, reinforcing the fear of cooling in the labour market.
The recruitment and labor sales report listed around 7.18 million in July, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released Wednesday. This is the second read since the end of 2020 at the 7.2 million level.
Wednesday’s printout was the lowest since September 2024 since more than 7.1 million openings were reported. That blip has been low last year, but these job vacancies were last seen when the pandemic was causing a drastic change in the US economy and workforce.
It also fell below 7.4 million opening forecasts from the Economists voted by Dow Jones.
It highlighted growing concerns that it would weaken in the labour market. This is a trend that has been shown in anecdotal evidence for several months.
“This is a turning point in the labor market,” said Heatherlong, chief economist for the Navy Federal Credit Union. “That’s yet another crack.”
“This is another data point that highlights how this job market is frozen, and it’s difficult for anyone to get a job right now,” Long added.
The weekly unemployment claims data scheduled for Thursday provides insights for the next round of job market health. Attention then goes to the Jobs Report, which continued closely on Friday morning.
