The number of jobs available in the U.S. fell to 8.5 million in March, the Labor Department reported on Wednesday, down from 8.8 million in February and the lowest number since February 2021. However, this number is also still at a historically high level, indicating that the labor market is still strong despite higher interest rates.
Before 2021, the number of job openings had never topped 8 million, but it’s stayed above that for 37 consecutive months now. The number reached its peak at 12.2 million positions in March 2022. Layoffs have fallen, though the number of people quitting their job is also down, signaling their uncertainty that there’s a better job out there.
When the Federal Reserve start increasing interest rates in March 2022, it was believed the higher borrowing costs could lead to a recession and increase unemployment rates. Despite the benchmark rate rising 11 times, companies have continued to hire and unemployment has stayed low at less than 4% for the past 26 straight months.
