US job openings drop to five-month low, consumer confidence weakest since 2014
The dollar firmed as the euro slipped to $1.1340 and GLD rose 1.24% to $382.61 a share
Published
US job openings fell to a five-month low in the latest reading, and consumer confidence dropped to its lowest level since 2014. Together the figures point to a labor market that is cooling gradually rather than cracking, with employers neither hiring nor firing in large numbers.
The dollar gained on the day. The euro weakened to $1.1340, and gold rose 1.4% to $4,175.01.
The data mainly move rates and currency markets rather than stocks. Soft job openings and weak confidence reinforce the case for the Federal Reserve to keep cutting rates, but the dollar's gain and gold's rise suggest investors are reading the numbers as a sign of slowing growth rather than simply a green light for riskier assets. For equities broadly, the signal is mixed: consistent with a labor market slowing in an orderly way, not one that is breaking down.
None of this changes the separate debate over OpenAI's valuation, in which investors are weighing the pace of its revenue growth against concerns about safety. That argument remains distinct from, and more consequential for, AI-linked stocks than today's macro data.