February\u2019s hiring rate, at 3.1%, clocked in at the worst pace since the early days of the pandemic and before that since 2011, Labor Department data released Tuesday showed.<\/p>\n
US hires plunged to 4.8 million last month, down by 387,000 from a year ago, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n
\u201c3.1% is not only comparable to the COVID low point – it\u2019s also comparable to late 2009 and early 2010, when the unemployment rate was around 10%,\u201d Guy Berger, director of economic research at the Burning Glass Institute, wrote on X. \u201cHiring was ice cold in February.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, 6.9 million jobs were open last month, matching economists\u2019 expectations while being a tick lower than January\u2019s revised level<\/a> of 7.2 million positions. January\u2019s hiring rate<\/a> was also revised higher to 3.4%, the strongest since last June.<\/p>\n Do you have a story about navigating the job market? Reach out to Emma Ockerman here.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAs with the January and February job reports, it\u2019s a good idea to average out those 2 months\u2019 JOLTS reports,\u201d Berger said on X. \u201cHiring was stronger than recent trends in January; weaker than recent trends in February. A very tough time to find a job, but not suddenly getting even tougher.\u201d<\/p>\n For the past year, the labor market has been broadly described as \u201cno hire, no fire\u201d \u2014\u00a0steady for those with jobs, but difficult to break into for those without. That narrative didn\u2019t shift much in February: Tuesday\u2019s data showed that amid weak hiring, the quits rate \u2014 a barometer for workers\u2019 confidence in finding another position \u2014 was 1.9%. Layoffs and discharges totaled 1.7 million, lower than the same month a year ago.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say there hasn\u2019t been any movement. Several companies have announced sweeping layoffs this year<\/a>, including Amazon (AMZN<\/a>), UPS (UPS<\/a>), Block,<\/a> and Epic Games, though continuing claims for jobless benefits remain low. And workers who are out of a job right now have to contend with an economy that\u2019s adding very few positions.<\/p>\n The US-Israel war with Iran adds another complication to the job market, as any pullback in consumer spending could affect companies\u2019 plans to bring on more workers.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a hiring recession. And Americans are feeling it. There were notable hiring pullbacks in February in hospitality and construction,\u201d Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBottom line: The job market was already frozen before the war in Iran began,\u201d she wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s worrying that a \u2018no hire, no fire\u2019 situation could turn into a \u2018no hire, start to fire\u2019 job market quickly if there isn’t a resolution soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Emma Ockerman<\/a>\u00a0is a reporter covering the economy and labor for Yahoo Finance. You can reach her at\u00a0emma.ockerman@yahooinc.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n