US Labour Market Losing Momentum Ahead of Nonfarm Payrolls Report

The US labour market is losing momentum ahead of Friday's nonfarm payrolls report, according to the latest JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) data. Job openings rose by 89,000 to 7.27 million, but hires fell by 278,000 to 5.05 million.

This divergence pushed the job openings-to-hires ratio up to around 1.44, suggesting that headline vacancies may be overstating the underlying strength of labour demand. Employers continue to advertise positions, but fewer of those vacancies are translating into actual hires.

Hires are near the lower end of their post-pandemic range and have trended lower for several years. The broader JOLTS data point to a similar slowdown in labour-market activity, with hires and total separations converging near five million per month.