Job Market Cools: Low Hiring, High Unemployment

0:00It's March 31st. This is Durham News Today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with the story. Job openings in the U.S. dropped to $6.9 million last month, down from $7.2 million in January, while hiring stayed pretty weak. The latest labor department data paints a picture of a cooling labor market, with gross hires hitting $4.85 million, the fewest since. April 2020. Dayoffs ticked up, and just 2.97 million folks quit their jobs. The lowest quits since August 2020. They usually signals confidence when people bounce for better gigs, but not this time. These figures came before the Iran conflict jacked up gas prices over $1.00 a gallon and shook things up. Economists are pointing fingers at high interest rates, uncertainty around economic policies, and artificial intelligence shaking up entry-level roles. As reasons the job market's been sputtering for a year. Companies added fewer than 10,000 net jobs a month in 2025.

1:00The weakest stretch outside a recession since 2002. January saw a solid 126,000 new jobs, but February flipped to a loss of 92,000. Officials expect March numbers on Friday to show a rebound with around 60,000 added. Even with sluggish hiring, unemployment holds steady at 4.4% in this low higher low fire setup where bosses cling to their teams. Amid AI unknowns, hinting at caution ahead as the economy navigates these headwinds.