US DATA
The JOLTS report for August saw a clash of higher than expected job openings but another step lower in quits rates for even further below pre-pandemic averages.
- Job openings surprisingly increased to 8.04m (cons 7.69m) in August after a slightly upward revised 7.71m (initial 7.67m) in July.
- The rate to unemployed increased to 1.13 after a marginally upward revised 1.08 (initial 1.07), with the increase modestly boosted by the already known small 48k decline in unemployment back in August.
- It saw this ratio to unemployment increase from what was the lowest since May-2021. It clearly remains low by recent standards having averaged 1.21 in Q2 for close to the 1.19 seen in 2019 although is still elevated compared to earlier pre-pandemic years such as the 1.00 averaged in 2017-18.
- Quits rate: 1.94% after 2.04% (initial 2.07) in July. 2019 av 2.33, 2017-18 av 2.20.
- Private quits: 2.15% after 2.26% (initial 2.28) in May. 2019 av 2.59, 2017-18 av 2.45.
- Outside of the depths of the pandemic, these are the lowest quit rates since late 2014/early 2015.
170 words