Job Openings Surge In Body Blow To US Soft Landing Hopes
US job openings rose to more than 11 million on the final business day of December, hotly anticipated data released on Wednesday showed.
It was a bitter disappointment for those hoping to see additional evidence of labor market normalization. Economists expected openings to fall by nearly 150,000. Instead, they rose by almost 600,000.
Hires rose too, but the increase was comparatively small. The gap thus ballooned wider.
I wouldn't want to overdramatize the print, but suffice to say it wasn
I see that some observers say more timely employment data suggested continued easing, vs the lagged JOLTS, and/or pointing to the weather. But the Fed governors are primary actors with grave responsibility, not observers, and their ability to rely on tea leaves is commensurately lower.
“But the Fed governors are primary actors with grave responsibility, not observers, and their ability to rely on tea leaves is commensurately lower.”
If this blog allowed for responding with giant thumbs up or smiley emojis, I’d have been clicking away after reading that.
To me, a soft landing means that inflation is brought back to an acceptable level without too many people losing their jobs. This data suggests that the landing has been pushed out some more but I don’t think it indicates whether it will eventually be hard or soft. What am I missing?