US Job Openings Hold at 7.4 Million as Labor Force Shrinks and Hiring Stalls
Updated
Updated · Indeed Hiring Lab · Aug 4
US Job Openings Hold at 7.4 Million as Labor Force Shrinks and Hiring Stalls
3 articles · Updated · Indeed Hiring Lab · Aug 4
Summary
7.4 million job openings in June left the JOLTS picture largely unchanged, with the hires rate at 3.4%, quits at 2% and layoffs at 1.1%—extending the low-hire, low-fire pattern seen since last year.
A shrinking civilian labor force since late 2025 appears to be driving part of the slowdown, shifting the story from weak labor demand alone to tighter labor supply in an aging workforce.
Leisure and hospitality posted the sharpest hiring pullback, with hires down 87,000 from May and 174,000 from a year earlier, far steeper than construction's 27,000 annual decline.
Private education and health services moved the other way, adding 68,000 hires in June as healthcare demand tied to aging populations increasingly leans on international recruitment.
Indeed's job-postings index has stabilized about 1% above its pre-pandemic baseline, while negative real earnings growth in Q2 points to labor-market pressure persisting even without a broader crack in layoffs.