The job market is cooling but still remains ‘red hot,’ economist says. What to expect as a job seeker

The job market continued a gradual cooling in February but largely remains advantageous for workers, according to labor data issued Tuesday.

Job openings, a barometer of employer demand for workers, fell by 632,000 to 9.9 million in February — the lowest level since May 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There were about 1.7 job openings per unemployed worker, the lowest ratio since November 2021. However, the number of open jobs is still significantly above its pre-pandemic level. Prior to 2021, job openings had never before reached 8 million.

“The job market is cooling,” said Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor, a career site. “It’s just cooling from a very high temperature. It’s cooling from white hot to red hot.”

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Meanwhile, about 4 million workers quit their jobs in February. While down from the peak over 4.5 million in November 2021, the level is about 400,000 higher than the pre-pandemic high bar.

Most people who voluntarily leave their job do for new employment; the measure is therefore a proxy for workers’ sentiment about their labor prospects.

Layoffs also remain historically low the broad U.S. economy despite recent headlines about job cuts in the technology sector.

Indeed, by any measure, the job market is hotter than it was in 2019 — which itself was known as a jobseeker’s market characterized by factors like low unemployment and strong wage growth, Zhao said.

Despite that historical strength, workers looking for a new job may be wise to proceed with a bit more caution, labor experts said.

Job openings and quits surged to record levels in early 2021 as the U.S. economy reopened, consumers unleashed pent-up demand to spend money and businesses began a flurry of…