Job openings experienced a slight uptick in February, paralleled by an increase in hiring, indicating ongoing resilience within the US labor market.
According to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday, job openings at the end of February totaled 8.76 million, a marginal rise from January’s figure of 8.75 million, which was revised downward.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had anticipated job openings to reach 8.73 million in February.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also revealed that 5.8 million hires were made during the month, showing a slight increase from the 5.7 million recorded in January.
Additionally, the hiring rate inched up to 3.7% in February from January’s rate of 3.6%.
Nancy Vanden Houten, lead US economist at Oxford Economics, remarked in a note to clients that the February JOLTS report suggests a labor market that remains robust.
The JOLTS report also indicated that the quits rate, a measure of worker confidence, held steady at 2.2% for the fourth consecutive month.
While the data from February’s release pertains to that month, additional labor market data set for release later in the week will shed light on any developments in March.
Veronica Clark, an economist at Citi, emphasized that both hires and quits serve as valuable indicators of labor market trends.
Clark suggested that if hiring and quits rates remain stable at current levels into the spring, it could signify that demand for labor is not weakening further.
Vanden Houten pointed out that data like that released on Tuesday likely alleviates concerns regarding downside risks to the economy from adopting a patient approach to rate cuts, at least for the time being.
With growing consensus among economists about economic growth, there is a belief that the Fed could postpone rate adjustments as long as the employment aspect of its dual mandate remains sturdy.
