Labor Market Begins to Cool

The long-anticipated cooling of the labor market seems to have begun, according to Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What’s going on: Labor’s latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey reported 694,000 manufacturing job openings in February.

That’s down from a revised 732,000 in January and the lowest level in two years.
Over the past 12 months, job openings in the industry have averaged almost 828,000.
Even with some easing in recent months, manufacturing job openings remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

More hiring, quits: Manufacturers hired 422,000 workers in February, up from 420,000 in January.

Total separations—quits, firings, layoffs and retirements—increased to 415,000 from January’s 406,000. Thus, net hiring for February totaled 7,000, the weakest reading in almost two years.
Total manufacturing-sector quits rose to 283,000 from 267,000, a six-month high.
Overall, net hiring in manufacturing has averaged 28,667 over the past year.

The big picture: In the larger economy, nonfarm business job openings decreased to 9,931,000 in February from 10,563,000 in January.

This was the first reading below 10 million in almost two years.
Meanwhile, the 5,936,000 unemployed Americans reported in February means there continued to be significantly more job openings than people seeking work.