Job openings in the United States have fallen to a six-year low, as demand for restaurant workers remains amid concerns about trade, immigration and the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI).
Tuesday’s Job and Employment Survey (JOLTS), a monthly report issued by the United States Department of Labor, showed that job openings fell by 358,000 to 6.882 million in February.
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That was down from a projected 6.918 million jobs for the month, a sharper drop than analysts had expected. In January, the JOLTS report reported 7.240 million job opportunities.
Hiring efforts also fell in February, with 498,000 fewer people, for a total of 4.8 million people. That marks the lowest level of hiring since March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Only a few people are leaving their jobs for new ones, which shows job desperation. Three million people quit last month, at a rate of 1.9 percent.
Along with the shrinking job market, there has been a sharp drop in consumer sentiment.
A March report from the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment — a measure of economic confidence — fell 6 percent from this time last year and 5.8 percent from the previous month.
That put consumer sentiment at its lowest level since December.
Economist Heather Boushey, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, explains some of that decline as a response to both of President Donald Trump’s policies.
“People are very upset about the Trump economy. Big ticket prices and kitchen table prices were already rising, and this morning, we saw very low consumer sentiment for 2026 for almost everyone,” Boushey said in a statement given to Al Jazeera.
Even the reluctance of workers to change jobs may reflect a broader sense of weakness in current economic conditions.
The fact that layoffs eased slightly this month “suggests that workers continue to have a pessimistic view of their prospects in the open market,” said Michele Evermore, a senior fellow at the National Social Insurance Institute.
He also said that US governments should plan their policies to deal with the changes that are coming in the market.
Evermore told Al Jazeera: “I will never forget when I say that countries should review their unemployment systems and their willingness to provide an effective countercyclical stabiliser”.
There are several factors contributing to economic instability under Trump. Since returning to office for a second term, Trump has used a wide range of fees that have faced legal challenges in the courts.
One of those battles resulted in a Supreme Court ruling blocking the use of the International Emergency Economic Energy Act (IEEPA) to implement tariffs. That has left Trump’s tariff regime in flux, as he turns to other legal measures to impose foreign taxes.
Then, there was Trump’s decision to join Israel in attacking Iran on February 28. Since the attack, a regional war has erupted in the Middle East, and Iran has retaliated by cutting off trade through the Strait of Hormuz, which is an important channel for oil and natural gas.
The crisis affecting the global oil industry has sent prices skyrocketing. For example, in America, the American Automobile Association (AAA) found that the average price of a gallon (3.79 liters) of gasoline is $4.018, more than a dollar from the average of $2.982 last month.
“As we enter the fourth week of the war with Iran, energy prices are unlikely to rebound anytime soon, creating the potential for negative sentiment to persist,” Boushey explained.
Independent experts in the government have also warned about waiting in the job market.
Earlier this month, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that “the rate of job growth” has “a negative outlook”.
The Federal Reserve, the US’s largest bank, has been under pressure to cut interest rates under President Donald Trump’s second term.
So far, the bank has chosen to keep interest rates steady. It intends to announce its next decision on interest rates at the end of April.
A Labor Department report from last week highlighted that there is little demand among companies for new workers.
It found that private, non-farm payrolls saw their growth slow, averaging 18,000 jobs per month in the three months ending in February.
Trump’s handling of immigration was cited among the reasons for the decline.
Even as the labor market continues to slump, US markets are rising in mid-day trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.9 percent, the Nasdaq 3.4 percent and the S&P 500 2.3 percent since the market opened on Tuesday.
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