By The Financial District
Feb 7, 20232 min
Job openings have risen unexpectedly to 11 million — the highest level since July, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
Photo Insert: Last month, a total of 185,000 positions were added to the economy.
That figure was up significantly from the 10.4 million openings in November and well exceeded economists’ expectations of 10.3 million, Alicia Wallace reported for CNN.
That means we’re back to having 1.9 jobs open for every one person looking for work. That’s a great thing for workers, but not quite what the Federal Reserve had in mind as it tries to put a damper on inflation, Allison Morrow also wrote for CNN.
And yet, the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes have helped bring inflation down. Fedchief Jay Powell said: “I would say it is a good thing the disinflation we have seen so far has not come at the expense of a weaker labor market. But I would also say the inflationary process you see underway is really at an early stage."
The labor market may not be as white-hot as it was a few months ago, but it's still in good shape despite all the interest rate hikes that should slow down business expansion.
In December, the US unemployment rate fell back down to 3.5%, once again matching a 50-year low. It's expected to tick up just slightly to 3.6%. And despite high-profile layoffs — mostly by large tech firms — those cutbacks haven't become widespread."
Last month, a total of 185,000 positions were added to the economy. Although that would be the smallest monthly gain in about two years, it’s still a brisk pace of hiring. Pre-pandemic, the monthly average was around 183,000, Wallace reported.
Powell may as well stop blaming workers for inflation caused by corporations raising prices and throwing more money to stockholders since there has never been any appreciable increase in wages to cause a huge increase in money supply.
Higher wages stimulate demand for goods and services.