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For the first time since 2021, there are now fewer job roles available than there are unemployed.
The Dollar has fallen on new evidence the U.S. labour market continues to soften and that the Federal Reserve will be more inclined to cut interest rates in the coming months as a result.
U.S. job openings fell to 7181k in July from a downwardly revised 7357k in June, undershooting consensus expectations for 7380k.
"Today has seen more evidence that the US jobs market is cooling markedly," says James Knightley, Chief International Economist at ING Bank.
Knightley says the data caused "quite a sizeable reaction" in financial markets, with investors now pricing in 24 basis points of cuts by September (effectively 100% chance of a 25% move), while the cumulative cuts priced by the December meeting are now 58bp versus 55bp before the data.
The rising prospect of rate cuts has bolstered stock markets and weighed on the U.S. Dollar: GBP/USD trades half a per cent higher on the day at 1.3449 having been as low as 1.3332 ahead of the release. The EUR/USD is up a third of a per cent at 1.1675, having been as low as 1.1608.
"Ratio of job openings to the number of unemployed Americans drops below 1" - ING.
"There is now less than one job opening per unemployed worker, the first time this ratio has dropped below 1.0 since 2021," says Sarah House, Senior Economist at Wells Fargo Economics.
"Workers and employers alike remain in a freeze, evident in the hiring and layoff rates holding steady at low levels," she adds.
The data continues to paint a picture of a jobs market that is turning weaker, something Fed Chair Jerome Powell alluded to in his address to the Jackson Hole conference in August.
Powell said that although labour markets remain in balance, "it is a curious kind of balance that results from a marked slowing in both the supply of and demand for workers."
"This unusual situation suggests that downside risks to employment are rising. And if those risks materialise, they can do so quickly in the form of sharply higher layoffs and rising unemployment," he adds.
The underlying message is that the Fed stands ready to cut interest rates to support the labour market, even if inflation is still uncomfortably high.
Markets now await the all-important U.S. non-farm payrolls figures due Friday for a difinitive account of where the economy is going.
Another undershoot in the headline figure will cause the Dollar to end the week on a soft note. But, given the already low expectations, the bigger market reaction would likely be to the upside in the event the data beats estimates.
Here, the Dollar would end the week on a stronger footing.