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The “Great Stay” deepened in November as the number of people who quit their jobs that month dropped to under 3.1 million, a level not seen since the height of the pandemic.
The latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report, which was released Tuesday, also showed that hiring activity remained at a decade low, a further indication that a much cooler labor market is at hand.
Despite continued signs of a broader slowdown, Tuesday’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that layoff activity held fairly steady in November. Additionally, the number of job openings increased to 8.1 million, its highest level since May.
Job openings are a closely watched metric of how much demand there is for labor. Economists were expecting the number of open jobs to decrease slightly to 7.7 million from the original estimate of 7.74 million, according to FactSet.
“The report shows an entrenched labor market,” Robert Frick, corporate economist with Navy Federal Credit Union, said in a statement Tuesday. “Despite more job openings, hiring is weakening, workers are even more reluctant to quit their jobs, and layoffs are low. It feels like a wait-and-see scenario as employers and employees alike wait for the next administration’s policies.”
The coming weeks and months could shift the narrative for the labor market, inflation and the overall economy, economists have cautioned, noting President-elect Donald Trump’s policy proposals around trade, taxes, government efficiency and immigration.
Job growth slowed last year, reflecting both the ongoing normalization of the labor market following the pandemic as well as ongoing pressures from a high-interest rate environment meant to stifle demand and tame inflation.
Through November, the US economy has added an average of 180,363 jobs per month, a pace more in line with what was seen during 2010 to 2019 (a period that included the longest stretch of job creation on record).
The final jobs report for 2024 is due out Friday morning, and economists are expecting employment growth to tally 156,500 for December, according to FactSet consensus estimates.
This story is developing and will be updated.