US job openings fall in June as healthcare vacancies decline, but hiring picks up

US job openings declined in June, largely reflecting weaker demand in the healthcare and social assistance sector, although stronger hiring and subdued layoffs suggested the labor market remained on stable footing.

The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released Tuesday that available positions fell by 178,000 to 7.359 million on the final day of June.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected 7.400 million job openings.

Healthcare and social assistance accounted for much of the decline, with vacancies in the sector dropping by 147,000 during the month.

The job openings rate eased to 4.4% from 4.5% in May.

Vacancies had increased sharply in April, and remained unchanged in May, even though they had beaten expectations.

Hiring improves while layoffs remain subdued

Despite fewer open positions, employers stepped up hiring during June, pointing to a labor market that continues to expand gradually rather than contract.

Hiring rose by 96,000 to 5.348 million, lifting the hires rate to 3.4% from 3.3% in May.

Layoffs and discharges changed little, holding at 1.766 million, while the layoff rate remained unchanged at 1.1%.

The latest figures indicate employers are still reluctant to cut workers even as hiring remains measured, reinforcing the view that the labor market remains in what economists describe as a "slow-hire, slow-fire" phase.

"Layoffs remain very low by historical standards, and are lower than they were a year ago. One of the surprising developments of 2026. (Conditional on a mild improvement in labor markets, I would have expected more hiring rather than fewer layoffs)," Guy Berger, Senior Advisor on Labor Markets at Access/Macro, said.

"That said, the picture for the improvement in the 1st half of 2026 makes more sense than it did 1-2 months ago. The lion's share of the improvement in employment growth has come from higher hiring (partly offset by a tiny rise in quits)," he added.

Attention shifts to July jobs report

The June JOLTS report comes ahead of the closely watched July employment report due on Friday, which will offer another snapshot of labor market conditions.

Economists polled by Reuters expect nonfarm payrolls to have increased by 80,000 jobs in July after rising by 57,000 in June.

The unemployment rate is forecast to remain unchanged at 4.2%, although some economists believe there is a risk it could edge higher after a recent Conference Board survey showed the share of consumers who viewed jobs as "plentiful" fell in July to its lowest level since February 2021.

Some economists also cautioned against placing too much weight on the JOLTS report, noting that response rates to the survey have declined significantly in recent years.

For policymakers, however, the broader labor market picture remains one of resilience.

Stable hiring and historically low layoffs are expected to allow the Federal Reserve to keep its focus on inflation after leaving its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75% last week.

Three members of the Fed's policy-setting committee dissented in favor of a quarter-percentage-point interest rate increase, underscoring the central bank's continued concern about inflationary pressures even as the labor market gradually cools.