U.S. financial markets were little moved by the data.
There were 47,000 fewer job openings in the information sector in August. Economists said the JOLTS data would be closely monitored for clues as to when the longest economic expansion in history, now in its 11th year, might end.“Although we only have data for the two prior recessions, on both occasions there was a decline in the job openings rate before the onset of recession,” said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.
Job growth has averaged 161,000 per month this year, compared to a monthly gain of 223,000 in 2018. Job gains remain above the roughly 100,000 per month needed to keep up with growth in the working-age population. The unemployment rate fell to near a 50-year low of 3.5 per cent in September from 3.7 per cent in August.
August’s gain matched July’s increase, suggesting inventory investment could remain a drag on economic growth in the third quarter. The pace of inventory accumulation has been slowing after stocks increased strongly from the third quarter of 2018 through the first quarter of this year.