Job openings outnumbered layoffs in September
Although the economy is creating more job openings than it's forcing layoffs, the margin isn't big enough to boost the labor market.
While the unemployment rate shows signs of peaking, job openings look like they're reaching a trough.
US Department of Labor
Looking deeper at today’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover report you can see that while the unemployment rate is showing notable initial signs of establishing a peak, the job openings rate is showing an equal but opposite troughing dynamic.
Further, the latest data indicates that job hires are occurring at a rate of 3.7% of total employment while total job separations occurs at a rate of 3.5%.
So, currently job hires are slightly outpacing separations thus resulting in, more or less, a stagnant job market and more evidence that the unemployment rate may stay elevated for some time.
It's important to note that today's data is very preliminary and volatile and that a more sustained and sustained spread between the rate of hires and separations would be required to make a significant dent in our current structurally weak job market.
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