US jobs data: Job openings slide to near five-year low; hiring stays sluggish despite solid growth

US employers posted significantly fewer job openings in November, signalling that hiring remains subdued even as economic growth has picked up, according to data released by the Labor Department. Businesses and government agencies reported 7.1 million open jobs at the end of November, down from 7.4 million in October. While hiring remained weak, layoffs also declined, indicating that employers are holding on to existing workers even as they hesitate to expand their workforce, AP reported. The data points to a continued “low-hire, low-fire” labour market, where workers enjoy a degree of job security but unemployed people face difficulty finding new roles. This trend contrasts with broader economic indicators showing solid momentum, with US growth exceeding 4 per cent at an annual rate in the July–September quarter of last year. Economists expect growth to have slowed in the final months of 2025, but to have remained resilient. The November figure marked the lowest number of job openings since September 2024 and, excluding that month, the weakest reading in nearly five years. A key question for 2026 is whether hiring will accelerate to align with healthy economic growth, or whether persistent weakness in job creation could eventually weigh on the economy. Another possibility is that increased automation and the use of artificial intelligence could allow output to grow without a corresponding rise in employment. Further clarity is expected on Friday, when the government releases its monthly jobs report for December. The data was published as part of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which offers insight into hiring, layoffs and worker turnover, and comes after last autumn’s US government shutdown delayed the release of several labour market and inflation indicators.