U.S. job openings steady at 7.2M in August
The U.S. Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed job openings ticked up to 7.23 million in August from 7.21 million in July, effectively unchanged and indicating a cooling labor market amid trade-policy uncertainty and an approaching government shutdown. The report also found quits and layoffs declined and follows recent downward revisions to earlier job-growth figures that have weighed on hiring momentum and helped prompt Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Economy
Finance
🔍 Key Facts
- Job openings: 7.23 million in August vs. 7.21 million in July (JOLTS)
- Labor-market dynamics: quits fell and layoffs also declined in the August report
- Background revision: Labor Department earlier revised job-creation totals down by about 911,000 for the year ending in March, and monthly hiring has slowed to an average roughly 53,000 since March
📍 Contextual Background
- The Social Security Administration's contingency plans provide that in the event of a lapse in appropriations the agency will follow those plans and beneficiaries would continue receiving Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments.
- A Social Security Administration contingency plan published on Sept. 24 indicated that about 45,000 SSA employees (roughly 90% of the agency's workforce) would remain on the job during a government shutdown, while roughly 6,200 employees would be furloughed.
- During a U.S. federal government shutdown, active-duty military personnel and deployed National Guard members must continue to perform their assigned duties but their pay is delayed until the shutdown ends.
- Civilian personnel whose work the Department of Defense designates as 'excepted' continue to work during a government shutdown, while other Department of Defense civilian employees are furloughed.
- The Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 provides that government employees automatically receive back pay after a government shutdown.
- Congress enacted the Pay Our Military Act in 2013 to ensure military pay and allowances continued during a government shutdown.
- Prices for living room, kitchen and dining room furniture in the U.S. rose 9.5% from August 2024 to August 2025, according to CPI data.