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Job openings stabilize in January, but likely short-lived

Summary

The first Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey for 2025 showed the labor market maintained solid momentum heading into the year. Job openings rose slightly to 7.7 million, and the ratio of jobs-per-unemployed worker ticked modestly higher to 1.13. Layoffs and discharges remained historically depressed at just 1.0% of total employment, and the recent sideways trends in the hiring rate and quits rate are welcome compared to the downward slides that punctuated most of last year.

Yet while today's JOLTS report offers further evidence that the jobs market started the year in decent shape, headwinds have emerged more recently. The low rate of hiring leaves the jobs market in a vulnerable position to a renewed deceleration in labor demand.

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