The number of job openings fell 364,000 to 6.4 million in December, a two-year low, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
The plunge in advertised job vacancies could be cause for concern for people looking for work. The number of job openings was as high as 7.6 million early last year.
“Though there are still more job openings than unemployed workers for the 22nd straight month, this trend is concerning,” said Tara Sinclair, a senior fellow at Indeed, a job-listings search engine.
Despite the concerning news about the decline in job openings, actual hiring was strong, at around 5.9 million — near the best mark since the recovery.
Tuesday’s report also showed that the rate people are quitting their jobs remained unchanged at 2.3%. It has been roughly the same since September and could signal that workers are content to stay in their current jobs.
A higher quits rate is typically a signal of worker optimism, Sinclair said.
Tuesday’s information comes from the agency’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which is released on a one-month lag from the more widely known monthly jobs report and contains more detail about hiring and firing.
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