Nov. 1 (UPI) — The Federal Reserve’s attempts to loosen up a tight jobs market and combat inflation did not stop a jump in job openings in September.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows 10.72 million job openings in the month of September. That equates to an increase of about half a million over August which outpaced projections.
Hires reached 6.1 million while layoffs, discharges and people quitting was about 5.7 million.
September’s gaudy job numbers are just 0.8% lower than than peak numbers in March. Hires were slightly less than August, as were separations, which includes layoffs, discharges and people who quit their jobs. Layoffs reduced by 0.9% to 1.3 million.
The bureau estimates there are about 1.9 jobs available per worker.
The JOLTS report is a measuring stick for federal policymakers, giving them a clue as to where the labor market is and where it is going. The surprising increase in September will not change the plans to institute yet another 0.75 percentage point interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve, likely by the end of this week. It will be the sixth interest rate increase of the year.
High job availability also points to companies struggling to find enough workers. Despite claims of people being unwilling to work, the unemployment rate is near a 50-year low. Just 3.5% of workers, about 5.8 million people, were unemployed in September. In April 2020, unemployment peaked at 14.7%.
In August, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said interest rate hikes would slow inflation, but also “bring some pain to households and businesses,” indicating some Americans could lose their jobs. He would later clarify that a reduction in job openings would help combat inflation, not the termination of existing, occupied jobs.
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