Demand for workers in the U.S. fell slightly in March, a sign that the labor market may be cooling off.
Job openings fell to 9.6 million in March, the Labor Department said Tuesday. That’s the lowest level of openings since April of 2021.
Despite the decline, openings are very high by historical standards, indicating that employers are still having trouble attracting enough workers.
The number of people quitting their jobs declined slightly to 3.9 million. The number of layoffs rose by 248,000 to 1.8 million.
Economists had expected openings to fall to 9.6 million. The prior month’s figure was revised up to 9.974 million from 9.931 million.