Wednesday afternoon’s July JOLTS report will do little to allay lingering concerns over the health of the US labour market, ahead of the all-important August payrolls print on Friday.
Not only did the 7.673 million figure miss consensus expectations, the print also came in below the bottom of the forecast range, pointing to job openings being at their lowest level since January 2021, a further sign of the labour market cooling, quicker than participants had been expecting.
The significant dovish reaction to the print, with equities taking a leg lower, Treasuries rallying sharply across the curve, and the market moving to discount a four-in-10 chance of a 50bp cut in September, provide participants with further evidence of the heightened sensitivity which markets continue to display to incoming economic data.
The print also further raises the stakes for Friday’s jobs report, and provides additional signs that ‘bad news is bad news’ at present, with participants more focused on downside growth risks, than the potential for additional policy stimulus.
