US businesses are adding workers at the weakest pace in 15 years, excluding the onset of the pandemic, new data showed Tuesday, a sign that there was an even deeper chill cutting through the labor market before the Middle East conflict threatened to shake the US economy.
Hires as percentage of total employment dropped to 3.1% at the end of February, the lowest rate since April 2020 and, before that, 2011, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The hires rate dropped off from 3.4% in January, marking the steepest one-month decline outside of the pandemic