Job openings in the United States fell in March as President Donald Trump’s trade wars clouded the economic outlook.

U.S. employers posted 7.2 million vacancies in March, down from 7.5 million in February and 8.1 million in March 2024. It was the fewest number of openings since September and below the 7.5 million that economists had forecast.

Still, openings remain high by historical standards but have fallen steadily since peaking at 12.1 million in March 2022 when the economy was still bouncing back from COVID-19 lockdowns.

The American job market has proven remarkably resilient. Companies, nonprofits and government agencies continued hire in the face of high interest rates engineered by the Federal Reserve to combat a resurgence of inflation.

But the economic outlook is uncertain, largely because of Trump’s policies — huge taxes on imports, purges of federal workers and the deportation of immigrants working in the United States illegally.

(AP)