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The labor market and the end of summer certainly have one thing in common: things are getting chilly.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics posted its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data for August on Tuesday. The data was more proof that the labor market is continuing to cool down, as hirings and total separations fell again in August.
Read more takeaways from the report below.
Diving into the data. The “Big Stay” continues to impact the job market, as employers further backed off on hiring and workers stayed put at their jobs. Total hires in August fell to 5.3 million from a downwardly revised 5.4 million the month prior. And quits fell to 3.1 million from 3.2 million in July, while layoffs and firings dropped to 1.6 million in August, down 100,000 from 1.7 million in July.
“It’s very hard to find a job, and jobseekers know it,” Guy Berger, director of economic research at the Burning Glass Institute, wrote on Substack.
These month-over-month decreases may seem small, but year-over-year changes show a more significant cooldown. Employers posted a half million fewer hires (5.3 million) than the 5.88 million in August 2023, while total separations—which includes quits, layoffs, and firings—fell by more than 600,000 (4.9 million) from 5.6 million in August 2023.
Looking ahead. The August JOLTS data continued to point to a worrying cooldown in the labor market. But Friday’s employment situation report, which will disclose total employment data for September, might show an uptick in hiring as employers usually start ramping up recruitment efforts after Labor Day.
“We always get this slow time in August and then the September surge. Folks start hiring for holidays, and you really see that uptick,” Amy Glaser, SVP of business operations at recruiting firm Adecco, told HR Brew.
Ahead of that uptick, employers should prioritize retaining workers and flexible work offerings, Glaser said.
“We see an ongoing trend of this appetite for flexible work, whether it be scheduling, hybrid schedules, part-time work, the rise of the gig worker,” she said. “So really, flexibility and retention strategies are key for employers to capitalize in this market.”
