The July JOLTs job openings figure rose to 5.75 million, beating expectations for 5.3 million. This is closely eyed by the Federal Reserve. While the quits haven’t really changed (2.7 million and 1.9% rate), the percentage of job openings has increased substantially from 3.6% to 3.9%. These are positive signs for the economy and also for the central bank.
Are the chances for a hike slightly higher?
While the data is lagging, the Fed watches this closely as it provides a wider look at the economy. The number of quits is of importance: more quits mean more people feeling confident and usually switching for a better job.
There is an improvement on the firing side, from the report:
There were 1.6 million layoffs and discharges in July, edging down from June. The layoffs and
discharges rate fell to 1.1 percent.
The strong number for July goes hand in hand with the upwards revision of 30K that was attached to the August Non-Farm Payrolls report. The US gained 245K jobs in July according to the updated data.
For June, and also along the lines of the recent NFP revision, the JOLTs figure was upgraded to 5.323 million, slightly more than 5.225 initially reported.
Fed decision in September – all the updates
