Overview

• July’s JOLTS report showed openings fell by 176,000 to 7.181 million, the lowest in nearly a year and below roughly 7.24 million unemployed job seekers.
• Hiring edged up to about 5.31 million, quits held near 3.2 million, and layoffs rose modestly to 1.81 million, reflecting a low‑hiring, low‑firing job market.
• Health care and social assistance posted the largest drop in openings at 181,000, with additional declines in arts and entertainment and in mining and logging.
• Fed officials have flagged rising labor risks, and markets are looking to Friday’s August jobs report—where economists forecast roughly 75,000–80,000 payroll gains and a 4.3% unemployment rate—for confirmation of the slowdown.
• Confidence in labor data is under scrutiny after sizable downward payroll revisions and President Trump’s firing of the BLS chief, with an annual benchmark revision due next week.