[Job vacancies in the United States increased slightly in July, reflecting stable labor demand] September 1st: Job vacancies in the United States increased slightly in July and the number of layoffs decreased, indicating that corporate labor demand remains stable at a low level. Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday showed that job openings rose to 7.27 million in July from a downwardly revised 7.18 million in June. The median forecast of economists surveyed was 7.31 million. The report shows that the U.S. labor market still continues the typical "low hiring, low layoffs" pattern of the past few years. Faced with geopolitical uncertainty and persistent inflation, companies are cautious about expanding their workforces, but are also reluctant to lay off large-scale employees. The increase in job openings was driven primarily by manufacturing, state and local government (excluding education), and the health care and social assistance industries. Among them, manufacturing job vacancies rose to the highest level since December 2023, while leisure and hospitality job vacancies fell to the lowest level since 2021. At the same time, layoffs fell to the lowest level since January this year. Manufacturing layoffs fell to their lowest level in more than five years. The so-called turnover rate, which measures the proportion of employees who voluntarily leave each month, fell slightly to 1.9%. The report also shows that there are approximately 1.1 job vacancies for every unemployed person. The ratio reached 2 to 1 at its peak in 2022, and Fed officials often use this indicator to measure the balance between labor supply and demand.