Both the JOLTS report and unemployment claims suggest that the labor market is still trundling along at a slow and steady pace.
The number of job openings hardly changed MoM at 7.1Mn openings, but was down by 885,000 over the year - underscoring a lack of hiring from employers.
The job openings rate, at 4.3% hardly budged MoM, a reflection of uncertainty amongst employers. Construction led gains with 90,000 but accommodations and food services were lower by 148,000.
People did hire - Total hires were the same as the previous month at 5.1Mn, with a rate of hiring of 3.2%. Surprisingly the Federal government led hiring by 11,000 but state and local governments dropped 39,000
Separations - 5.1Mn, with a rate of 3.2%, also close to the previous month's number - led by state and local governments.
Quits - 3.2Mn at 2%, unchanged from the previous month, led by Food and accommodation services.
Given the fear of AI replacing jobs, this should be a sign of relief. Even as hiring slows, employers are keeping onto their employees.
Similar to the JOLTs report, new applications for unemployment benefits rose just a bit, suggesting that layoffs were muted at the end of 2025, amidst sluggish demand for workers.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose just 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 208,000 for the week ended December 27, inline with forecasts of 210,000.
As we saw from the ADP report, while hiring is at a historic low, at least the JOLTS and Unemployment claims suggest that the economy is far from keeling over - the hammer of AI has still not fallen. Bloodied but not bowed.
