The numbers: Job openings fell below the 10 million mark again in May in a sign of slight cooling in the U.S. labor market, but the report is unlikely to sway the Federal Reserve as it gears up to raise interest rates again.
Job listings declined to a two-month low of 9.8 million in May from a revised 10.3 million in April, the Labor Department said Thursday. It’s the third time they’ve fallen below the 10 million mark this year.The number of job openings is seen as a sign of the health of the labor market and the broader U.S. economy.
The number of job openings for each unemployed worker fell to 1.6 in May from 1.8 in the prior month. People are more likely to quit when they think it’s easy to get a better job, and they tend to stay put when the economy weakens.The U.S. is forecast to add a strong 240, 000 new jobs in June. The June jobs report comes out on Friday.