Analysis: Job vacancies in the U.S. decreased in February, and the hiring pace has noticeably slowed down

According to Jinshi Data, job vacancies in the U.S. decreased in February, and hiring has significantly slowed, indicating that labor demand has cooled ahead of the additional uncertainties brought about by the war in Iran.

Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday showed that job vacancies fell from a revised 7.24 million in January to 6.88 million. After a brief rebound in job vacancies at the beginning of the year, the simultaneous slowdown in hiring and vacancies suggests that companies are becoming cautious in hiring after experiencing nearly zero growth for a year.

Looking ahead, the surge in oil prices triggered by the war may increase operational costs for businesses and pose a barrier to further hiring. The decline in job vacancies is primarily driven by a retreat in accommodation and food services, healthcare and social assistance, and manufacturing. The hiring rate has dropped to its lowest level since April 2020, while the layoff rate has slightly increased.

Despite large companies, including Meta and Oracle, pushing for large-scale layoffs to reallocate resources to AI investments, the overall level of layoffs in the economy remains relatively mild.