Job openings hit lowest level in 2 years as demand for workers cools

Published

2 years ago

August 7, 2023

admin

US employers posted fewer jobs in June, a sign that thered-hot demand for workersthat has been a key feature of the post-pandemic economy is cooling a bit.

Job openings dropped to 9.6 million in June, the Labor Department said Tuesday, down slightly from the previous month but much lower than the 10.3 million in April and the fewest in more than two years.

The governments report also showed that the number of people who quit their jobs in June fell sharply to 3.8 million from 4.1 million, another sign the job market is slowing.

The Federal Reserve is seeking to cool the job market, because if companies are less desperate to hire, and fewer workers are quitting to seek higher-paying positions elsewhere, then businesses will be under less pressure to raise pay to find and keep workers.

Smaller pay hikes could help lower inflation, since businesses wont have to lift their prices to offset higher labor costs.

Tuesdays report means there are 1.6 jobs for every unemployed worker, down from a peak of 1.9 earlier this year, though still higher than before the pandemic.

On Friday, the government is set to release the July jobs report, which will show how many positions were added in July and whether the unemployment rate fell below its current level of 3.6%, which is near the lowest in a half-century.

Economists forecast the report will show a gain of 200,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate unchanged, according to a survey by data provider FactSet.

Since the economy first emerged from the pandemic, job openings have soared reaching a record 12 million in March 2022.

Before the pandemic, they had never topped 7.6 million.

Average paychecks rose by 4.6% in the April-June quarter compared to a year earlier, above the pre-pandemic pace of about 3%.

While thats great for workers, the Fed worries that unless companies become more productive, such increases are too high to get inflation to its 2% target.

The Fed last week lifted its key short-term rate for the 11th time in 17 months as part of its ongoing efforts to curb inflation, which is currently at 3%.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, however, according to the Feds preferred measure, it rose 4.1% compared with a year ago.

Most economists would have expected such a sharp increase in interest rates to force widespread layoffs and higher unemployment.

Instead, the unemployment rate has barely changed since the Fed began pushing up borrowing costs last year.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has long held out hope that the higher rates, instead of leading to more layoffs, would simply cause employers to post fewer openings.

At a press conference last week, Powell said that the job market has softened, which should help bring down inflation, through job openings coming down part of the way back to more normal levels.

Typically, when job openings decline, companies also start to lay off workers and push up the unemployment rate.

But so far, thats not happening. Tuesdays report, known as the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, showed that layoffs actually declined in June, to 1.53 million, down from 1.57 million in May.

That is below pre-pandemic trends and suggests companies generally want to hold onto their staffs.

World

British couple killed in Lisbon funicular crash named

Published

3 hours ago

September 6, 2025

admin

British couple killed in Lisbon funicular crash named

Two of the three Britons killed in the Lisbon funicular crash have been named.

Kayleigh Smith, 36, and William Nelson, 44, were a couple and died alongside 14 others in Wednesday’s incident.

Ms Smith graduated from the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester, where Mr Nelson ran the master’s degree in directing.

The identity of the third British victim has not yet been confirmed.

MADS theatre in Macclesfield, Cheshire, said Ms Smith was a “valued member of our society” who will be “greatly missed”.

It said she was an award-winning director and actress, who had also done multiple crew and front-of-house roles.

Five Portuguese citizens died when the packed carriage plummeted out of control – four of them workers at a charity on the hill – but most victims were foreigners.

Police said the other fatalities were two Canadians, two South Koreans, one American, one French citizen, one Swiss and one Ukrainian.

All but one were declared dead at the scene – and 21 others in the packed carriage were injured.

The yellow carriages of the Gloria funicular are a big draw for tourists, as well as a proud symbol of the Portuguese capital.

The journey is just 265m (870ft) up a steep hill and takes three minutes, with two carriages travelling in opposite directions on a linked cable.

Witnesses reported seeing one of the carriages hurtle down the hill before derailing and crashing 30m from the bottom.

The aftermath shows it crumpled and twisted against the side of a building.

People who were in the bottom carriage said they were a few metres into the climb when it started going backwards.

When they saw the other car speeding towards them, many jumped through the windows to escape.

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro called the crash “one of the biggest tragedies of our recent past” and authorities are under intense pressure to quickly identifying the cause.

One witness who was in the lower carriage told Sky’s Europe correspondent Alistair Bunkall that the brakes appeared to fail.

The carriage’s brakeman, Andre Marques, has also been confirmed among the dead.

Officials said the streetcar, which has been running since 1914, had a half-hour visual inspection every day and underwent full maintenance last year.

The line links the downtown area near Restauradores Square with Lisbon’s Bairro Alto neighbourhood.

A preliminary technical report due on Friday has now been delayed until Saturday. Another report with a broader scope is expected within 45 days.

Three other funicular lines in Lisbon have been suspended.

US

475 people detained during immigration raid on Hyundai factory in Georgia

Published

3 hours ago

September 6, 2025

admin

475 people detained during immigration raid on Hyundai factory in Georgia

Officers detained 475 people during an immigration raid on a Hyundai factory for electric vehicles in Georgia.

The majority of those detained at the 3,000-acre site west of Savannah are from South Korea, according to Steven Schrank, special agent in charge at Homeland Security Investigations.

Mr Schrank said the raid was the “largest single-site enforcement operation” in the history of the agency and followed an investigation of several months, which involved leads from community members and former workers.

The spokesman for the South Korean foreign ministry, Lee Jaewoong, said there was a “large” number of South Koreans among those detained in the raid, but did not provide an exact number.

He said the detained workers were part of a “network of subcontractors” and that the employees worked for several different companies on the Georgia site.

Mr Lee said South Korea’s foreign ministry is dispatching diplomats from its embassy in Washington and consulate in Atlanta to the site, and plans to form an on-site response team centred on the local mission.

“The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the process of US law enforcement,” Mr Lee added.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that agents executed a search warrant “as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment practices and other serious federal crimes”.

The manufacturing site, which employs about 1,200 people, has been hailed as the largest economic development project in the state’s history by Governor Brian Kemp and other officials.

Hyundai Motor Group, the biggest automaker in South Korea, started manufacturing electric vehicles at the $7.6bn (£7.4bn) site a year ago and partnered with LG Energy Solution to build an adjacent battery plant, which is set to open in 2026.

ICE spokesman Lindsay Williams confirmed the raid and said agents were focused on the construction site for the battery plant.

LG said in a statement that it was “closely monitoring the situation and gathered all relevant details”. The firm said it couldn’t immediately confirm how many of its employees or Hyundai workers had been detained.

“Our top priority is always ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees and partners. We will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities,” LG said.

Hyundai and LG’s battery joint venture, HL-GA Battery Company, said in a statement that it’s “cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities” and paused construction of the battery site to assist the investigation.

Operations at Hyundai’s electric vehicle manufacturing plant weren’t interrupted, plant spokesperson Biance Johnson said.

The raid is the latest in a series of sweeping ICE operations as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, which saw immigration officers raid farms, construction sites, restaurants and auto repair shops.

The US labour force lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January through July, which includes legal and illegal immigrants, according to the Pew Research Centre, citing preliminary census data.

US

Joe Biden has skin cancer surgery – months after ‘aggressive’ prostate cancer diagnosis

Published

3 hours ago

September 6, 2025

admin

Joe Biden has skin cancer surgery - months after 'aggressive' prostate cancer diagnosis

Former US president Joe Biden has had surgery for skin cancer, his spokesperson has said.

It’s unclear when he had the procedure, but video from late August showed him leaving church in Delaware with a large, fresh scar on his head.

The spokesperson told Sky’s US partner, NBC News, that he was recovering well.

Mr Biden had Mohs surgery, which involves removing a layer of tissue, examining it under a microscope to see if any cancer cells remain, and repeating if necessary.

The 82-year had a basal cell carcinoma, one of the two most common skin cancer types, removed from his chest in 2023.

His doctor said at the time that all the cancerous cells had been removed.

The same year, Mr Biden’s wife, Jill, had two basal cell carcinomas removed from near her eye and on her chest.

The former president also revealed this May that he had stage-four prostate cancer – with the disease having spread to his bones and having a Gleason score of nine.

Such a score means the disease is “likely to grow quickly”, according to Cancer Research UK.

His office said the prostate cancer was discovered when Mr Biden visited a doctor for urinary symptoms and that he was considering “multiple treatment options”.

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” said a statement.