WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. job opportunities fell last month to their lowest level since January 2021; This is a sign that the labor market is losing some momentum. Still, advertised vacancies remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that the number of job openings fell to 7.4 million in September from 7.9 million in August. Economists had expected the opening level to be virtually unchanged. Job opportunities have declined, especially in healthcare companies and government agencies at the federal, state and local levels.

The number of people laid off also increased. And the number of Americans quitting their jobs fell below 3.1 million, the lowest number since August 2020.

“Workers are not as confident that they can find jobs if they quit without taking further action,” Carl Weinberg and Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics wrote in a commentary. However, they added: “There is no sign of a sudden collapse or imminent recession in the labor market. “Of course the labor market is softer, but there is no boom.”

While job openings have fallen sharply since peaking at 12.2 million in 2022, they remain higher than they were before the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed the American economy at the beginning of 2020. As the economy rebounded from the COVID-19 recession with unexpected strength, companies scrambled to grow again. Find enough workers to keep up with customer orders.

The overheated economy caused inflation to explode, and the Federal Reserve responded by increasing its benchmark interest rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. Inflation has fallen to 2.4% from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022.

The economy has proven surprisingly resilient in the face of the Fed’s interest rate hikes and has avoided the widely predicted recession. But compared to the increase in hiring from 2021 to 2023, job creation has slowed this year; It averaged 200,000 new jobs per month from January to September this year. This is a healthy number compared to the record average of 604,000 per month in 2021, 377,000 in 2022 and 251,000 last year at the end of pandemic lockdowns.

Still, employers added an unexpectedly strong 254,000 jobs in September. On Friday, the Labor Department is expected to report that the economy added 120,000 new jobs in October; that total is likely to be held back by the effects of Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the strike at Boeing. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at a low level of 4.1%, according to a survey of forecasters by data company FactSet.

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