U.S. job openings decreased sharply in March. However, layoffs declined, suggesting the labor market remained solid despite the shifting tariffs policy affecting the economy.
The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that job openings, measuring labor demand, decreased by 288,000 to 7.192 million by March’s end. This data comes from their Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, released on Tuesday. They revised February’s data downward to 7.480 million open positions, instead of the previously reported 7.568 million.
Economists Reuters polled had forecast 7.480 million vacancies. Hiring increased only 41,000 to 5.411 million. This underscores businesses’ reluctance to increase headcount as they navigate President Donald Trump’s sweeping import duties. Layoffs fell 222,000 to 1.558 million, continuing to anchor the labor market.
Economists expect tariffs to boost prices and snarl supply chains. They anticipate a hit to the labor market in the coming months. They also expect a hiring freeze and mass firings of federal workers, part of the Trump administration’s campaign to downsize the government drastically, to undercut the labor market’s resilience.
The government is expected to report on Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 130,000 jobs in April after rising 228,000 in March. A Reuters survey showed this expectation. The unemployment rate is forecast to “hold steady at 4.2%.”
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