On Wednesday, the Labor Department reported a small decline in U.S. job openings in January. According to the report, job openings were documented at 8.863 million, slightly lower than the revised December figure of 8.889 million.
The initial forecast by economists was for job openings to decrease to 8.900 million from the previously reported 9.026 million in the preceding month. The Labor Department further noted that the number of hires and total employee departures for the month remained roughly unchanged at 5.7 million and 5.3 million, respectively. Moreover, within the total separations, the number of voluntary resignations (quits) and involuntary terminations (layoffs and discharges) remained stable at 3.4 million and 1.6 million respectively.
