?Job openings plummeted by 632,000 in February to 9.9 million, but still outnumber available workers as the labor market remains tight, according to the monthly JOLTS report released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report shows the long-anticipated slowdown in the demand for workers as employers become more cautious about a potential recession. Available jobs remain historically high however, and outnumber unemployed workers by approximately 4 million.
The number of people quitting remains elevated as 4 million workers left their jobs in February. Layoffs in February fell by over 200,000 to 1.5 million, amid continued reports of job cutting in a variety of sectors.
On Friday, the Department of Labor will report on how many jobs the U.S. economy added in March, the unemployment rate and wage gains for the month.
