November 6, 2024: A Cooling Market for U.S. Workers

After two light weeks of economic news, last week brought a surfeit of economic data releases and corporate earnings reports. Among the former, investors received two reports on the U.S. job market—reports that together point toward a cooling market for U.S. workers.

On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Services released its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report for the month of September, which indicated a healthy, albeit declining, number of job openings. In addition, a declining “quits rate” suggests that fewer workers are leaving jobs in anticipation of finding better opportunities. Both factors indicate that the job market is moving closer to pre-pandemic norms, with the number of job openings roughly equaling the number of people looking for work.

Friday’s October payrolls report further confirmed a cooling job market. While observers would be correct to note that this report reflects the tragic effects of two hurricanes (not to mention the Boeing labor strike), downward revisions to August and September payrolls helped pushed the trend in monthly job growth downward. A net decline of new jobs in the goods sector and minimal growth in the services sector further point to a cooling labor market.

Weekly Market Update: November 6, 2024