US job openings fall to 7.2 million in March, the lowest level since September

By PAUL WISEMAN Associated Press Economics Writer WASHINGTON AP Job openings in the United States fell in March as President Donald Trump s arrangement wars clouded the economic outlook U S employers posted million vacancies in March down from million in February and million in March the Labor Department shared Tuesday It was the fewest number of openings since September and below the million that economists had forecast But the department s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary also displayed that the number of Americans quitting their jobs a sign of confidence in the economic activity rose modestly And layoffs fell to the lowest level since June Related Articles Nowhere to turn Small businesses dependent on imports from China are feeling more desperate Can society money flow to Catholic charter school The Supreme Court will decide Supreme Court hears arguments on development about FBI raid on wrong Georgia home Wall Street drifts as corporate profits pile higher along with uncertainty about Trump s commerce war Amazon launches its first internet satellites to compete against SpaceX s Starlinks Openings remain high by historical standards but have fallen steadily since peaking at million in March when the financial market was still bouncing back from COVID- The American job territory has proven remarkably resilient Companies nonprofits and regime agencies continued hire in the face of high interest rates engineered by the Federal Reserve to combat a resurgence of inflation The economic outlook is uncertain largely because of Trump s policies huge taxes on imports purges of federal workers and the deportation of immigrants working in the United States illegally Still federal job cuts by billionaire Elon Musk s Department of Ruling body Efficiency didn t have much impact in the March numbers federal layoffs indeed dipped to from February s which had been the bulk since November The job field is continuing to hold its own but barely declared Robert Frick economist with the Navy Federal Credit Union While job openings dropped below forecasts they haven t hit a post-COVID low Hiring holds steady and layoffs dipped a bit showing that overall employers are clinging to the employees they have But this is likely the calm before the storm as layoffs are pending in ruling body contractors and manufacturers and other sectors affected by executive layoffs and tariffs