The number of available jobs in the United States trended downward to 6.5 million in December, a decrease of 386,000 from the previous month, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It marks a continued cooling in labor demand as the year drew to a close, with total openings down 966,000 compared to December 2024.
While the total number of hires and separations remained relatively stable at 5.3 million each, the drop in vacancies was driven by decreases in several industries. Professional and business services saw the steepest decline, shedding 257,000 openings, while retail openings fell by 195,000 and finance and insurance dropped by 120,000.
The number of layoffs and discharges changed little in December, holding steady at 1.8 million, which is a rate of 1.1%, while overall separations (including voluntary resignations) remained unchanged.
However, results varied by sector, with some areas of the economy increasingly shedding jobs and others experiencing a deceleration in staffing reductions. For example, layoffs rose by 103,000 in transportation, warehousing and utilities, yet fell by 20,000 in finance and insurance.
Overall, the data on voluntary exits — which can help track a worker’s inclination and ability to leave a job — remained flat at 3.2 million (representing a 2% quit rate), though the retail and information sectors saw an uptick in willful departures and professional and business services witnessed a reduction.
Hiring activity showed mixed results across the economy. While the overall hiring level was little changed, the real estate and rental and leasing sector saw an increase of 38,000 hires. State and local governments (excluding education) also added 36,000 workers, whereas federal government hiring decreased by 11,000.
The BLS also revised its prior month’s data downward. The number of job openings for November was reduced by 218,000, to 6.9 million. Conversely, November’s hiring data was revised up slightly, by 6,000, and total separations increased by 64,000.
Layoffs spike in January
The BLS’s latest data release paints a picture of the labor market similar to the other data sources. For example, recent ADP data also showed a cooling private employment market, albeit during January rather December.
A separate report released Thursday by executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that U.S.-based employers announced 108,435 jobs cuts in January. That is the highest number of layoffs to start a calendar year since 2009, when 241,749 jobs cuts were announced at the tail end of the Great Recession.
A team of Wells Fargo economists noted in an analysis that while the layoff announcements “have not risen to a degree that signal a mass loss in employment, the pickup is a reminder that firms are not opposed to cutting headcount when other options have been exhausted.”
Amid this environment of unpromising employment reports, investors have begun ramping up bets that the Federal Reserve will resume cutting interest rates sooner than anticipated.
On Wednesday, just 9% of interest-rate traders were predicting the Fed would cut rates in March, according to CME FedWatch. That figure increased to 24% as of Thursday afternoon.
And while the odds stood around 57% on Wednesday that the Fed would execute a rate cut by June, there’s now an 81% chance, according to CME Group data.
