Job Openings Edge Up; Hiring, Quits Slide

U.S. job openings rose slightly to 7.27 million in July, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, up from a revised 7.18 million in June.

The department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey also showed layoffs fell — but so did the number of workers quitting their jobs, a signal that Americans are less confident they can find something better.

The takeaway: a job market that is not booming and not collapsing, ambling along under an energy shock caused by the fighting with Iran that is squeezing family budgets.

The Numbers

7.27 million: job openings in July, up from June's revised 7.18 million.

61,000: the average number of net jobs U.S. employers — companies, nonprofits and government agencies — have added each month so far this year. That figure was dragged down by outright job losses in February and July.

Below 10,000 a month: 2025's job growth, the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002, as high interest rates and uncertainty over President Trump's tariffs discouraged firms from hiring.

4.1%: the unemployment rate, which remains low. Weekly claims for unemployment benefits have come in low week after week.