U.S. December JOLTS job openings hit a more than five-year low, far below expectations

U.S. job vacancies fell to their lowest level in over five years in December, significantly below expectations, and the previous month's data was also revised down, reflecting a softening labor market in the U.S. by the end of 2025.

Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Thursday showed that the number of job openings in December was 6.542 million, the lowest level since September 2020, compared to an expectation of 7.25 million, and the previous month's figure was revised down from 7.146 million to 6.928 million.

The number of JOLTS job vacancies at the end of 2024 is about 7.5 million, indicating that the number of job vacancies in the U.S. economy has decreased by nearly one million over the past year, suggesting that labor demand is weakening in an uneven labor market. Four years ago, during the peak of the post-pandemic economic boom, job vacancies exceeded 12 million.

Other indicators from the JOLTS report show that while the U.S. labor market has cooled, it has not collapsed:

In December, hiring increased by 172,000 to 5.293 million, roughly unchanged from a year ago, but this level remains relatively low.

The number of voluntary separations also saw a slight increase in December, which is typically viewed as a sign of a healthy labor market, indicating that workers are still able to find new job opportunities.

The number of layoffs increased at the end of last year, but overall, it remains at a relatively moderate level. The layoff rate for 2025 is 1.1%, roughly unchanged from a year ago.

Due to a brief partial government shutdown that caused the Department of Labor to close on Monday and Tuesday, the December JOLTS report, originally scheduled for release earlier this week, was postponed. This shutdown also delayed the release of the January non-farm payroll report, which was originally set for Friday and is now scheduled for release on Wednesday, February 11.

The JOLTS report is one of the labor indicators most valued by former U.S. Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen during her tenure. This indicator is also closely monitored by the Federal Reserve. However, it is important to note that some economists question the reliability of the JOLTS statistics due to the current low response rate of the survey, which is about half of what it was a few years ago