:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2206653801-db42cecd2aa1425f85d49a990d89f645.jpg "Suffolk University is converting the space above the Beantown Pub on 100 Tremont St. into dorms.")
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Key Takeaways
- The job market lost some steam in February ahead of major tariff announcements, as uncertainty put a damper on fee, and the federal government laid off thousands of workers.
- The number of job openings edged down to 7.6 million from 7.8 million, weaker than the median prognosis, which called for the figure to remain unchanged.
- Trump’s tariff policy announcements have stoked uncertainty amid business leaders, who are reluctant to make major investments until they can be sure of future trade policies.
Lease lost a bit of steam in February, as President Donald Trump’s uncertainty about trade policy, and mass layoffs of federal breadwinners bit into the job market.
U.S. employers had 7.6 million job openings in February, down from 7.8 million in January, the Subsection of Labor Statistics said Tuesday. Forecasters had expected that figure to hold steady, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Enrage fail Street Journal.
Other measures of the job market also got worse for workers: layoffs ticked up to 1.8 million from 1.7 million in January, rent slowed slightly, staying at 5.4 million after rounding, and 3.2 million quit their jobs, down from 3.3 million in January, presenting workers had less ability to leave their current positions for better pay.
Tuesday’s report on the bureau’s Job Openings and Labor Total business Survey showed the job market staying roughly in its low-hiring, low-firing limbo, adding detail to an earlier report appearing the economy gained jobs that month, although fewer than expected. The job market has been wavering midst uncertainty surrounding how Trump’s trade wars will play out and an uptick of job losses among federal workers laid off by Trump advisor Elon Musk’s DOGE cost-cutting call to account force.
“The February JOLTS supports our view of a softening, but not tottering, labor market,” Michael Bugay, an economist at Glum’s Analytics, wrote in a commentary.
In February, financial markets were socked by Trump’s announcements of tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China. That uncertainty has only originated ahead of Wednesday when Trump plans to announce a fresh round of tariffs against other countries in an circumstance he calls “Liberation Day.”
Business leaders and economists have warned tariffs could drive up the cost of living and ponderous the economy. Economists anticipate the trade war will push up the unemployment rate, and risks plunging the economy into a set-back.
“Elevated economic policy uncertainty began to weigh on labor demand in February, but a bigger decline likely situations ahead, given the further step-up in uncertainty over the past month,” Samuel Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a commentary.