Students doing steel work at Ironworkers Local 29 during an apprenticeship in Dayton, Ohio. US manufacturing activity contracted for a second month in December 2022. – AFPpic: US job openings fell less than expected in November as the labour market remains tight, which could see the Federal Reserve boosting interest rates to a higher level than currently anticipated to tame inflation.
“The labour markets are still too darn hot for policymakers,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS here. “Fed officials won’t be confident their monetary tightening is working until hiring demand begins to slow.” But job openings dropped 75,000 in finance and insurance, one of the industries hardest hit by higher borrowing costs, and fell 44,000 in federal government.
“Workers overwhelmingly quit their old jobs to take new ones, which is a critical fuel for wage growth,” said Nick Bunker, head of research at Indeed Hiring Lab. “The flipside of workers leaving their old jobs readily is that employers aren’t letting go of the workers that remain.” Its measure of supplier deliveries fell to 45.1 from 47.2 in November, remaining below the 50 threshold, which indicates faster deliveries to factories, for a third consecutive month. The month-over-month performance of supplier deliveries was the best since March 2009, according to ISM.
That was the weakest since May 2020 and pushed the index just below 48.7, which the ISM says is consistent with a recession.