Employers pulled back on demand for workers last month amid signs the economy was starting to cool as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 spread rapidly across the U.S., according to private-sector estimates of job openings.
There were 10.8 million job openings on Jan. 21, according to an analysis of postings by jobs site Indeed, a decrease of more than a million from its estimate for the end of December. The private-sector figures reflect high demand for workers in a tight labor market where the number of jobs far exceeds the number of available workers.
The Labor Department on Tuesday separately released a December snapshot of hiring and departure trends that showed demand for workers and turnover remained historically high at the end of the year. There were 10.9 million job openings in December, the department said, up slightly from 10.8 million the prior…
