The Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly estimate of jobs openings showed a surge in unfilled positions in August, leading a series of key labor market releases this week that come amid a steep surge in Treasury bond yields tied to renewed inflation concerns.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as Jolts, showed that around 9.6 million positions went unfilled over the month of August, up sharply from the 8.83 million recorded in July and ending a run monthly declines that began in March.
The July figure was the lowest since March of 2021 and down from the all-time high of 12.027 million recorded in March of last year.
The so-called quits rate, which tracks workers leaving their jobs voluntarily -- often for pay increases in another position -- will be a key focus of the report as investors look for evidence that extended wage increases could stock inflation pressures. The August quits rate held at 2.3%, matching the July tally but down from 2.4% in June and the 3% peak it hit at the start of last year.
The S&P 500 was marked 55.2 points lower, or 1.3%, following the Jolts release while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 372 points and was on pace for its worst day since Match. The Nasdaq was down 208 points, or 1.57%, owing to the rise in Treasury yields that genuinely hit rate-sensitive tech stocks.
Treasury bond yields were back on the march as well, following the biggest one-day rise in nearly a month on Monday, with benchmark 10-year notes trading at a fresh 2007 high of 4.741% and 2-year notes pegged at just over 5.1%.
Long-term yields were sharply higher, as well, with 30-year bonds trading at 4.856%, a fresh 2007 peak.
"The past year-and-a-half, however, has seen the quits rate drop all the way back to the immediate pre-Covid level," said Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics.
"Labor demand has softened markedly now that employment in most sectors has returned to the pre-Covid level, or more, and Walmart, the biggest private sector employer in the U.S. recently cut pay for some in-store new hires," he added. "This move won’t be replicated everywhere, but it sends a powerful signal that the labor shortages of 2021-to-22 are mostly a thing of the past."
The JOLTs report will kick-off a series of job market data releases this week, with ADP's monthly employment report expected at 8:15 am on Wednesday, weekly jobless claims slated for 8:30 am on Thursday and the crucial September non-farm payrolls report prior to the start of trading on Friday.
Last week, the BLS's weekly report showed that just 204,000 people filed for new benefit applications for the week ended Sept. 23, compared with the eight-month low 202,000 reported over the prior period. That was the lowest since early January, a figure that stoked inflation concern and, in part, triggered the ongoing risk in Treasury yields.
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