The US now has more unemployed people than job openings for the first time since April 2021

U.S. job openings fell more sharply than expected in July as the labor market adjusts to President Trump’s trade and immigration policies. The Labor Department’s JOLTS survey reported 7.2 million open positions, down from 7.4 million in June and below forecasts of 7.3 to 7.5 million. For the first time since 2021, unemployed Americans—about 7.24 million—now outnumber available jobs at 7.18 million.

“The July JOLTS report showed further signs of softening labor market conditions,” wrote Oxford Economics lead U.S. economist Nancy Vanden Houten, noting that the openings-to-unemployed ratio dipped below 1.0 for the first time in over four years. Private sector openings declined for the second straight month, falling to 6.4 million, with health care and social assistance losing 181,000 openings, arts and entertainment down 62,000, and mining and logging down 13,000.

New hires edged slightly higher to 5.3 million while quits held steady at 3.2 million, keeping the quits rate at 2.0%. The latest numbers follow a weak July jobs report showing just 106,000 jobs added across May, June, and July—barely enough to keep up with attrition. That report prompted Trump to fire the Labor Department’s chief statistician, calling the data “rigged” without offering evidence, a move criticized by economists across the spectrum.

Despite slowing job creation, unemployment remains relatively low at 4.2%. Still, Fed Chair Jerome Powell recently warned that both demand and supply for labor are weakening in tandem, a rare situation that raises the risk of sudden layoffs and rising joblessness. Economists also caution that Trump’s immigration crackdown is compounding labor shortages. The American Enterprise Institute projects net migration in 2025 will fall by about 205,000, citing “a dramatic decrease in inflows and somewhat higher outflows”—a trend they say could weigh on overall U.S. economic output in the coming years.