July’s weak turnover data affirms slowing labor market

The dog days of summer hit the job market hard in July.

While job openings, signaling employers’ intent to hire, picked up in July, actual hires fell last month, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as employers have pulled back on hiring amid economic uncertainty. At the same time, both quits and layoffs and discharges declined in July. For workers, the labor market’s current “low-hire, low-fire” conditions signal that it might be better to stay put.

“These measures [hirings and quits] indicate movement, and often the movement that spells higher wages and better professional satisfaction. Both have been lackluster for some time, however, as employers aren’t bringing on many new workers, so workers have few options for upgrading their career,” Elizabeth Renter, senior director of economic insights at Life360, wrote on LinkedIn.