US Job Openings Rise Slightly to 7.3 Million as Labor Market Shows Caution
Job openings ticked up in July, but hiring and job-switching both declined, signaling employer and worker caution amid economic pressures.
What happened
The Labor Department reported Tuesday that US job openings rose to 7.27 million in July from a revised 7.18 million in June. Layoffs fell, but gross hiring declined to 5.1 million in July from 5.3 million in June. Job-quitting also decreased, suggesting workers are more hesitant about changing jobs. The unemployment rate remains at 4.1%. Year-to-date, US employers added an average of 61,000 net jobs per month, an improvement on 2025 when job growth came in below 10,000 a month.
Context
The labor market is operating in a 'low fire, low hire' mode: employers are not laying off workers in large numbers, but they are also not expanding payrolls significantly. This pattern reflects employer caution amid multiple pressures—an energy shock from conflict with Iran that has squeezed household budgets, elevated borrowing costs from higher interest rates, and lingering uncertainty from Trump's tariffs. Workers' reluctance to quit suggests confidence in their job security rather than optimism about opportunities, pointing to a stalled rather than resilient labor market. Forecasters expect August data to show modest job additions of 65,000 and an uptick in the unemployment rate to 4.2%.