US job openings and quits rise in sign of resilient labour market

The advance in openings was driven by the financial activities, retail trade and construction sector. The rise in quits was broad based.

US job openings rose in January while layoffs fell and quits picked up, indicating resilience in the labor market as the Trump administration took office.

Available positions increased to 7.74 million from a revised 7.51 million reading in December, according to monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 7.6 million openings.

The advance in openings was driven by the financial activities, retail trade and construction sector. The rise in quits was broad based.

Job openings remain above pre-pandemic averages despite a downward trend over the last three years, suggesting employers are still looking to hire. Details of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed the hiring rate remained unchanged in January, while the layoffs rate dipped to 1%, the lowest since June — showing the US economy remained in a limited-hiring, limited-firing environment.

The so-called quits rate, which measures the percentage of people voluntarily leaving their jobs each month, rose to 2.1% — the highest since July — interrupting the steady decline that has prevailed since 2022.

But the data lag behind more recent reports indicating a slowdown in the labor market last month amid uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s economic policies. Continuing applications for unemployment benefits rose to nearly a three-year high in the week ended Feb. 22, and the February jobs report published Friday showed the unemployment rate climbed to 4.1%.

The weaker data and a slide in the stock market have investors betting the Federal Reserve will opt for three quarter-point interest-rate cuts this year, more than the two they projected in December. Fed officials will update their projections at next week’s policy meeting.

The number of vacancies per unemployed worker, a ratio Fed officials watch closely as a proxy of the balance between labor demand and supply, was unchanged at 1.1, according to the JOLTS report. At its peak in 2022, the ratio was 2 to 1.