Job openings fell again in April, hitting lowest level since February 2021 in a sign of labor market weakening

Job openings fell more than forecast in April, signaling a potential weakening in the labor market that could provide the Federal Reserve more impetus to start lowering interest rates.

The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that the level of employment vacancies slipped to 8.06 million for the month, down by nearly 300,000 from March and nearly 19% lower than a year ago.

Moreover, the total marked the lowest since February 2021. The ratio of job openings to available workers edged down from 1.2 to 1, after being around 2 to 1 when openings peaked above 12 million in March 2022.