US job openings slide to 14-month low; hiring weak in November

The decline in hiring was nearly across all business sizes, and most pronounced in the healthcare and social assistance sector, where hiring fell by 76,000. The overall hires rate dropped to 3.2% from 3.4% in October.

Economists say policy uncertainty mostly related to import tariffs ​had left businesses reluctant to increase their headcounts, resulting in a jobless economic expansion. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected on Friday to rule on the legality of President Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs.

Some employers also are ‌integrating artificial intelligence in certain roles, diminishing the need for labor.

Economists argue that the labor market is experiencing structural challenges rather than cyclical weakness.

LAYOFFS REMAIN HISTORICALLY LOW

Layoffs dropped by 163,000 to 1.687 million. Resignations increased by 188,000 to 3.161 million, lifting the quits rate to a still-low 2.0% from 1.9% in October.

"Although layoff activity remains modest, we note that the low rate of voluntary exits raises the risk that employers who are looking to dial back headcount may need to increasingly resort to layoffs in lieu of attrition," said Sarah House, a senior economist at Wells Fargo.

Stocks on Wall Street were mixed. The dollar was steady against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury yields fell.

The U.S. central bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged in January. Minutes of the December 9-10 meeting published last week showed deep divisions at that meeting. The BLS is likely to report on Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 60,000 jobs in ⁠December after advancing by 64,000 in November, a Reuters survey of economists predicted.

Though the ADP's national employment report showed private employment ​rebounded by 41,000 jobs last month after decreasing 29,000 in November, economists cautioned against reading too much into the increase.

The monthly ADP estimate has ​historically diverged from the government's private payrolls count in the employment report.

"The visual signal from today's headline is that jobs were gained in December, but at a relatively slow pace," said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.

Attention is likely to center on the unemployment rate for fresh clues on the health of the labor market and near-term monetary policy outlook. The ‍jobless rate is projected to have eased to 4.5% in ⁠December after accelerating to more than a four-year high of 4.6% in November.

The November unemployment rate was partially distorted by the 43-day federal government shutdown, which also prevented the collection of household data for October. The unemployment rate for October was not published for the first time since the government started tracking the series in 1948.

A third report from the Institute for Supply Management showed its nonmanufacturing purchasing managers' index ⁠increased to 54.4 in December from 52.6 in November, with a measure of services employment rebounding to 52.0 after contracting for six straight months. At face value that suggested strong momentum in the economy heading into the new year.

The economy this year is expected to get ‌a tailwind from tax cuts and fading trade policy uncertainty.

"Stable and consistent economic growth in 2026 should keep services in a solid expansionary state over the year with upside if stimulus impacts ‌are substantial," said Ben Ayers, senior economist at Nationwide.

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(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao and Andrea Ricci)