Jobs Openings Fall as Economy Slows

Consistent with soft sentiment data, the count of job openings for the overall economy and construction fell in March as employers slowed hiring plans amid a broader economic slowdown, per the March Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

The number of open jobs for the overall economy declined from 7.48 million in February to 7.19 million in March. This is notably smaller than the 8.09 million estimate reported a year ago and reflects a softened aggregate labor market. Previous NAHB analysis indicated that this number had to fall below 8 million on a sustained basis for the Federal Reserve move on interest rate reductions. With estimates remaining below 8 million for national job openings, the Fed, in theory, should be able to cut further despite a recent pause. However, tariff proposals may keep the Fed on pause in the coming quarters.

The number of open construction sector jobs fell from a revised 286,000 in February to 248,000 in March. This nonetheless marks a significant reduction of open, unfilled construction jobs than that registered a year ago (338,000) due to a slowing of construction activity. The chart below notes the recent decline for the construction job openings rate, which is now back to 2019 levels.

The construction job openings rate moved lower to 2.9% in March, significantly down year-over-year from 4%.

The layoff rate in construction stayed low (1.7%) in March. The quits rate declined to 1.8% in March.