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US job openings fell in April to the lowest level in over three years as available positions decreased to 8.06 million from 8.36 million in the month prior. The report is consistent with a gradual slowdown in the labor market as all eyes for investors center around the Fed’s key inflation gauges. The decline helped lower the ratio of openings to unemployed people, another closely watched metric by the Federal Reserve, to 1.2 – the lowest level in since 2021.

The recent data tells us that the labor market is cooling, but it’s been gradual through slower hiring rather than outright job cuts. Fed officials are hoping that trend continues because the downstream impacts mean slowing demand and lower inflation. It’s a balancing act, though, as they need to slow down the job market just enough while trying to avoid putting millions of people out of work.