Look Out Below

US Job openings fell by 10% in August.

The Federal Reserve getting its slowdown, and it resembles an F-14 catching an arrester hook.

I have given up on Chairman Powell not causing a recession, I just hope that he takes his foot off of the break before unemployment hits double digits:

U.S. employers pulled back sharply on job openings, while layoffs rose in August, adding to signs the labor market and overall economy are cooling.

Employers’ total job openings fell 10% in August to a seasonally adjusted 10.1 million from 11.2 million the month before, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The 1.1-million drop in openings is the largest decline since the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, leaving job openings at their lowest level in a year.

Openings dropped the most in healthcare, retail and other services industries. The decline in openings coincided with an August easing of job growth. Employers added 315,000 jobs that month, compared with 526,000 jobs in July. The figures reflect a labor market that is still strong overall, but lost some steam in August after recovering rapidly from the effects of the pandemic.

Of course, the Fed does not really care if they overdo it on interest rates, their model is Paul Volker who waged a war on labor and wages his entire time as Fed Chair.

The Thursday unemployment claim numbers and Friday unemployment rate numbers are going to be interesting.