The job market was already ‘slim pickings.’ New data shows it just got worse
The job market was already ‘slim pickings.’ New data shows it just got worse
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/05/economy/us-jobs-data-layoffs-hiring
Publish Date: 2026-02-05 07:30:00
Source Domain: www.cnn.com
The labor market is becoming increasingly inhospitable in the United States, as demand for workers continues to wane and job postings are at their lowest levels since the pandemic.
New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Thursday showed that the estimated number of job openings sank to 6.54 million at the end of December, settling at the lowest level since September 2020. Hiring, quits and layoff rates held relatively steady.
The latest BLS report alongside other labor market data released this week provided further confirmation that the “low-hire, low-fire” slog continues.
There remain “slim pickings” for job seekers, said Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet.
“Job openings can be thought of as forward-looking; rather than an action that an employer has already taken, openings signal what they’re hoping (or not hoping) to do soon,” Renter wrote in commentary issued Thursday. “In this way, a decrease in openings for the month of December could indicate employer uncertainty about the new year.”
The uncertainty and fallout from sweeping policies implemented by the Trump administration – particularly in the areas of tariffs and immigration – have weighed heavily on hiring plans, noted Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. Companies instead have put their money toward testing the waters on technologies like artificial intelligence, she said.
“The hiring recession isn’t going to end anytime soon,” she wrote.
Last year, the US labor market posted the weakest job growth outside of a recession since 2003, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.
The official January jobs report isn’t coming out until next Wednesday (a delay triggered by the brief federal shutdown);…
