US job openings decline in December
A widely-followed indicator of US labour market strength weakened in December, although economists were sanguine, cautioning clients not to read too much into one month's worth of data.
According to the results of the Department of Labor's JOLTS survey, the number of job openings in the US dropped from an upwardly-revised 5.978m in November to 5.811m for December (consensus: 5.961m).
In parallel, the 'quits' rate printed at 2.2%, which Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said was "consistent" with an unemployment rate at 4.1%.
"The rate of change of job openings has been a decent leading indicator of payroll growth in recent years, but this contradicts all the private sector survey evidence. For now, then, we're inclined to view this dip as noise, but it needs to be watched closely over the next few months."