[elfsight_social_share_buttons id=”1″] 

Open jobs fell to a 28-month low in July, as there were only 8.8 million open jobs at the end of last month. That’s the fewest jobs since March 2021.

The decline signals that companies are becoming more cautious and slowing down amid recession concerns. That should make the Federal Reserve happy. The labor market was one sign that the economy wasn’t cooling off as much as it needed, making it harder to tame inflation. In light of this, the Fed recently warned its was looking at more painful rate hikes.

But Financial Issues Host Shana Burt notes that the economy may be just righting itself after the drastic pandemic shutdowns. The ratio of job-openings-to-unemployed workers slipped to 1.5 in July. The Fed would like to see that drop to the pre-pandemic norm of 1.2.