Job vacancies fall to lowest level since January 2021 as labor market cools

CNN
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The number of available jobs in the United States continued to decline in July, indicating that demand for workers continues to weaken amid a cooling labor market.

The number of job openings fell for the second month in a row in July, now at an estimated 7.67 million, compared with 7.91 million in June, according to new data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This is the lowest number of job openings since January 2021.

According to FactSet consensus estimates, economists had expected a total of 8.1 million jobs to be booked in July.

Wednesday's data is the first of a series of critical economic data releases on the U.S. labor market to be released this week, culminating in Friday's jobs report. With the much-anticipated rate cut just two weeks away, Wall Street and Main Street are on tenterhooks to see if a weakening labor market could prompt a huge cut.

This story is evolving and will be updated.