US job openings rise slightly to 7.3 million as labor market remains sturdy despite higher costs

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers posted slightly more job openings in July but the American labor market remained sturdy in the face of higher costs that are squeezing household budgets.

U.S. job openings ticked up to 7.27 million in July from a revised 7.18 million in June, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

The department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also showed that layoffs fell. But so did the number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects. The report showed that gross hiring — before subtracting those who lost or quit their jobs — dipped to 5.1 million in July from 5.3 million in June.

The American job market is hardly booming, but it is ambling along despite an energy shock caused by the fighting with Iran that has squeezed family budgets.

So far this year, U.S. employers — companies, nonprofits and government agencies — added an average of 61,000 net jobs a month. The figure — which was dragged down by job losses in February and July — is unimpressive. But it's an improvement on 2025 when job growth came in below 10,000 a month — weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002 — as the lingering effect of high interest rates and uncertainty caused by Trump's tariffs discouraged firms from hiring.

But if U.S. employers aren't hiring much, at least they aren't firing much either. The unemployment rate remains at a low 4.1%, and the number of people signing up for unemployment benefits has come in low week after week.

“The labor market is back in the ‘low fire, low hire’ mode,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. "Companies are growing cautious as the war in Iran drags on and borrowing costs have spiked.''

When the Labor Department puts out numbers on August hiring and unemployment Friday, it's expected to show that employers added 65,000 last month and that the jobless rate ticked up to 4.2%, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.