Job openings fell sharply in June as labor market shows signs of slowing

Job openings plunged in June to their lowest level since September 2021 in a potential sign that a historically tight labor market is starting to slow.

The total of employment vacancies fell to about 10.7 million through the last day of June, a decline of 605,000 or 5.4%, according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Markets had been looking for openings of 11.14 million, according to FactSet.

Even with the sharp decline, there were still 1.8 open jobs per available worker, with the total difference at nearly 4.8…