|
The
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS), showed that
layoffs rose. Just 2.97 million people quit their jobs in
February. Typically, people giving up their jobs is a sign of
confidence in their prospects for finding better pay or working
conditions elsewhere. The number of people leaving jobs last
month was the fewest since August 2020.
A measure of hiring also deteriorated: The JOLTS report showed
4.85 million gross hires in February, fewest since April 2020.
The hiring rate — the number of hires as a percentage of
employment — dropped to 3.1%, also the lowest since April 2020,
at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down economic
activity.
The numbers show the labor market before the Iran war drove up
gasoline prices and increased uncertainty.
Christopher S. Rupkey, chief economist at the financial research
firm fwdbonds, wrote in a commentary that the drop in openings
"as the Iran war started is not a good omen for the health and
vitality of the labor market. Companies have grown more cautious
as the price of gasoline has risen over a dollar a gallon since
the war began, and consumers have become much less confident.''
The U.S. job market has sputtered over the past year, reflecting
the lingering impact of the high interest rates and uncertainty
over President Donald Trump’s economic policies and the impact
of artificial intelligence.
Employers added fewer than 10,000 net jobs a month in 2025 –
weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. This year started
out with a decent 126,000 new jobs in January. But in February,
the United States lost 92,000 jobs. When the Labor Department
releases March jobs numbers Friday, they’re expected to show
that hiring rebounded and that companies, nonprofits and
government agencies added 60,000 jobs this month.
Despite sluggish hiring, the unemployment rate has stayed low –
at 4.4%. Economists refer to a low-hire, low-fire job market in
which companies are hesitant to add staff but don’t want to let
go of the workers they have. There are growing worries that AI
is taking over entry-level work and that companies are reluctant
to make hiring decisions until they better understand how they
are going to use AI.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
|
|
