US job openings in July post third straight monthly drop

U.S. job openings fell for a third straight month in July as the labor market gradually slows, but conditions remain tight, likely ensuring that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates high for some time. Job openings, a measure of labor demand dropped 338,000 to 8.827 million on the last day of July, the lowest level since March 2021, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday. The labor market has remained resilient despite 525 basis points in interest rate hikes from the Fed since March 2022, in part as employers filled positions, which opened up during the COVID-19 pandemic.