The number of job openings fell to 8.8 million at the end of July, down from the prior month’s revised 9.1 million in a sign that the economy is downshifting, the Labor Department reported on Tuesday.
The drop brings the number about 2.5 million below the 11.4 million available jobs of a year ago.
Openings fell in professional and business services, down 198,000; health care and social assistance, off by 130,000; and state and local government, including education, where the combined losses totaled 129,000. There was a strong increase in information industry jobs, up by 101,000; and in transportation, warehousing and utilities, where openings increased by 75,000.
“Now it is taking a bit longer for jobseekers to find a job,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist for ZipRecruiter. “There’s meaningful slack in the job market, but it is still a historically tight job market. Overall, I still see the U.S. labor market as understaffed.”
The government will report the monthly jobs number for August on Friday with expectations for a gain of about 168,000 jobs.
“Investors should expect a softening labor report this Friday, further cementing the thesis that the Fed is getting close to finishing its tightening cycle,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial.
Meanwhile, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for August found a pullback as Americans grew more concerned about rising prices of gasoline and groceries.
The present situation index – a reading of how consumers assess the current economy – fell to 144.8 from 153.0 in July. The expectations index, a forward-looking measure, declined to 80.2 from July’s bump to 88.
“Consumer confidence fell in August 2023, erasing back-to-back increases in June and July,” saidDana Peterson, chief economist at the business organization. “August’s disappointing headline number reflected dips in both the current conditions and expectations indexes. Write-in responses showed that consumers were once again preoccupied with rising prices in general, and for groceries and gasoline in particular.”
“The pullback in consumer confidence was evident across all age groups – and most notable among consumers with household incomes of $100,000 or more, as well as those earning less than $50,000,” Peterson added. “Confidence held relatively steady for consumers with incomes between $50,000 and $99,999.”
Consumers expected higher interest rates to come, while also lowering their assessment of the probability of a recession.
Also Tuesday, home prices rose 0.9% in June, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index. Prices were unchanged on a year-over-year basis.
"U.S. home prices continued to increase in June 2023," said Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI. "Our National Composite rose by 0.9% in June, and it now stands only -0.02% below its all time peak from exactly one year ago. Our 10- and 20-City Composites likewise each gained 0.9% in June 2023, and stand -0.5% and -1.2%, respectively, below their June 2022 peaks.”
"As we've noted previously, the recovery in home prices is broadly based,” Lazzara added. “Prices rose in all 20 cities in June, both before and after seasonal adjustment. Over the last 12 months, 10 cities show positive returns. Otherwise said, half the cities in our sample now sit at all-time high prices.
“Today’s market offers buyers the frustrating combination of low inventory and high home prices,” said Realtor.com economic data analyst Hannah Jones. “Many existing homeowners remain on the sidelines of the market, content to stay put as mortgage rates reach 20-year highs.”
“As a result, home shoppers are seeing fewer existing homes for sale and facing more competition for the homes available,” Jones added. “Builders have started to pick up construction activity to fill this gap, but remain cautious as affordability challenges continue to stifle buyer demand.”
D | 跳出卫龙看整个消费行业，类似的“第二曲线竞赛”正在多个赛道同时上演。 魔芋的消费场景正在被重新定义 据新华网发布的《我国魔芋食品产业发展的观察与研究》报告，2024年我国魔芋产业总产值已达320亿元，预计2030年将突破450亿元。其中魔芋零食作为新兴细分品类，从2014年几乎为零的市场，到2025年突破300亿元规模。
E | 魔芋零食的增长并非偶然。
F | 《中国食物与营养发展纲要（2025—2030年）》明确提出加大魔芋等富含膳食纤维的特色食物供给。
G | 低热量、高纤维的天然优势，让魔芋完美契合了消费升级的趋势。
H | 艺恩2025年10月发布的《零食行业消费趋势洞察》显示，健康零食已成为核心增长引擎，2024年市场规模达8200亿元，2025年预计突破9500亿元，增速是整体零食市场的1.9倍。 与此同时，中国零食行业正经历“从数量扩张到素质提高”“从能量供给到复合需求”的双重转变。传统以膨化、糖果为主的零食增速放缓，市场陷入存量博弈；而以辣味、健康化为代表的新兴赛道正迸发出远超行业的活力。 魔芋食品的消费已从“单一场景、小众人群”转向“多元场景、广泛人群”，呈现“健康化、年轻化、便捷化”特征。在火锅、麻辣烫等传统餐饮渠道之外，办公室零食、下午茶、代餐、运动补给等新兴场景正在崛起。 卫龙的变化：从“辣条”到“辣味休闲零食” 在这样的产业背景下，再看卫龙的变化，逻辑就清晰了。 卫龙以辣条建立了鲜明的品牌认知——这是它无法也不应抛弃的资产。调味面制品仍是其重要业务板块，2026年上半年11.8亿元的收入放在任何一个休闲食品品类里都不是小数目。据券商监测数据，卫龙在辣条品类的市场份额约达28%。 但卫龙同时在做另一件事：把辣条积累的品牌势能、渠道能力和供应链经验，平移到了魔芋这个新品类上。2014年，卫龙推出魔芋爽，将魔芋从火锅配菜变成开袋即食零食的品牌。十年后，以魔芋爽为代表的菜制品年销售额超30亿元，卫龙以超六成的市场占有率稳居魔芋零食赛道前列。
I | 从辣条到魔芋爽，卫龙没有离开“辣味”这个最核心的消费者认知，而是在这一基础上不断扩展品类。辣味零食是一个比辣条大得多的赛道——它包含辣条，但不局限于辣条。
J | 卫龙的成长，本质上是从“辣条”这个小细分走向了“辣味休闲零食”这个大细分。
K | 《报告》将卫龙魔芋爽称为“观察中国零食产业如何顺应消费趋势、实现价值升级的行业样本”。
L | 这个描述同样适用于卫龙的整个产品矩阵——从辣条到魔芋爽，卫龙用二十年的时间，完成了从单一爆品到多品类布局的进化。
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