American job openings slump in November

In November, American job openings headed south, suppressed by steep dives in construction as well as other services. However, it will most likely do little to change opinions that the American economy is currently facing a shortage of workforce.

A gauge of labor demand, job openings went down by 243,000 to a seasonally updated 6.9 million. That’s what the Labor Department revealed on Tuesday. In August, they reached a record maximum of about 7.3 million.

The job openings rate went down to 4.4% in contrast with October’s outcome of 4.5%.

In November, hiring inched down by 218,000 resulting in 5.7 million. Moreover, anecdotal evidence has been growing of businesses facing difficulties finding workforce, a phenomenon that financial analysts expect to decelerate job surge this year.

Last Friday, the US cabinet informed that nonfarm payrolls headed north by up to 312,000 jobs in December, which appears to be the most impressive surge since February. Last year job surge averaged 220,000 a month. In 2019, job gains are anticipated to speed down to nearly 150,000 a month because employees get scarcer.

By the way, the Labor Department hasn’t been impacted by the partial shutdown of the American cabinet and will keep publishing economic data prepared by its statistics agency, the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

By the way, data releases from the Census Bureau as well as Bureau of Economic Analysis, with November trade figures that were expected to be published on Tuesday, have been suspended during the government shutdown that burst out on December 22 in the face of demands by American leader for up to $5 billion in financing for a wall on the US-Mexico border.

The currency pair USD/JPY slumped by 0.03% reaching Y108.67 owing to waning demand for Japan‘s safe-haven currency against the backdrop of investor optimism that the recent round of trade negotiations between China and America could pave the way to an agreement.

u.s. economy geopolitics