By Manuel Gutierrez, Consulting Economist to NKBA

 

The good news is that more people have jobs, as employers reported 353,000 fewer openings in October — but there are still 10.3 million jobs open in the U.S. The overall number of openings has fallen from a peak of 11.9 million in March.

 

  • Construction businesses hired 332,000 workers in October, however 189,000 quit the same month. That sector still currently has 371,000 openings — 69,000 fewer than were open in April, when construction had the greatest number of openings since 2010. 
  • Health, hospitality and retail together accounted for 50 percent of all those hired in October. 
  • General economic uncertainty means businesses have tightened their hiring, to 6 million in October compared to 6.7 million in November 2021.
  • While 4 million workers quit in October, that’s 34,000 fewer than the previous month, and 500,000 fewer than the 4.5 million peak reached in November 2021. 
  • Government agencies have currently 922,000 openings, followed by 879,000 in retail —which will likely drop when holiday hiring is recorded.