A hiring sign is displayed outside of a restaurant in Arlington Heights, Ill., Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. On Wednesday, the Labor Department reports on job openings and labor turnover for December. – U.S. job openings rose to 11 million in December, delivering a setback to the Federal Reserve's effort to cool a hot job market.
For 18 straight months, employers have posted at least 10 million openings — a level never reached before 2021 in Labor Department data going back to 2000. The number of openings in December meant that there were about two vacancies for every unemployed American.Still, layoffs and discharges blipped up to 1.47 million in December from 1.42 million in November.
Hiring has remained strong even in the face of rising interest rates, which can increase costs for businesses. Combating inflation that last year hit a four-decade high, the Federal Reserve has hiked its benchmark rate seven times since March and is expected to announce another rate hike later Wednesday.
“With Fed officials hoping for signs of slowing hiring to support wage growth deceleration, every data point matters,'' said Matthew Martin, U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “The December report unfortunately offered the opposite ... showcasing the stubborn resiliency of the labor market.''