WASHINGTON: U.S. job openings fell marginally in January, while hiring declined as labor market conditions continue to gradually ease.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, slipped 26,000 to 8.863 million on the last day of January, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Wednesday.

Data for December was revised lower to show 8.889 million unfilled positions instead of the previously reported 9.026 million. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 8.9 million job openings in January. Job openings peaked at a record 12.0 million in March 2022. Hiring fell 100,000 to 5.687 million.

The number of workers resigning from their jobs fell 54,000 to 3.385 million in January.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in prepared remarks to lawmakers on Wednesday that the U.S. central bank expected to start cutting interest rates this year, but cautioned that “the economic outlook is uncertain, and ongoing progress toward our 2% inflation objective is not assured.”

US job growth surges in January; wages rise

Since March 2022, the Fed has raised its policy rate by 525 basis points to the current 5.25%-5.50% range.

The Labor Department is expected to report on Friday that nonfarm payrolls increased by 200,000 in February, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The economy added 353,000 positions in January.

Job growth has cooled from the brisk pace in 2022, but payroll gains are well above the roughly 100,000 jobs needed per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population.

The unemployment rate is forecast unchanged at 3.7% and annual wage growth slowing to 4.4% from 4.5% in January.