Once again US job vacancies have confounded forecasts from economists and analysts who were looking for a slide in the number of openings.
Yes they did dip – by 46,000 to 8.184 million, still well above the 6.811 million people listed as unemployed in June.
But the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said the June figure came after it revised upwards the number of openings in May by 90,000 to 8.230 million.
Job openings may have declined since hitting a record 12.182 million in March 2022 as demand moderates in response to the Fed’s rate rises, but they haven’t fallen anywhere near what hikes what analysts have been forecasting.
US jobs data for July will be released Friday night, Sydney time. Forecasts are for between 175,000 and 190,000 new jobs, an unchanged jibless rate of 4.1% and a 0.3% rise in hourly wages in the month.