File - A hiring sign seeking bus drivers is posted in Palatine, Ill., Wednesday, April 19, 2023. On Thursday, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as companies held on to employees in an economy that has largely withstood rapidly rising interest rates, intended to cool hiring and spending, for more than a year.
Part of the Fed’s intent was to cool the job market and bring down wages, which many economists believe suppresses price growth. Though some measures of inflation have come down significantly — from as much as 9% down closer to 3% — since the Fed starting raising interest rates, the job market has held up better than many anticipated.
On Tuesday, government data showed that job openings dropped to 8.8 million last month, the fewest since March 2021 and down from 9.2 million in June. However, the numbers remain unusually robust considering monthly job openings never topped 8 million before 2021.