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In November, the US economy’s job openings remained nearly unchanged, hovering around a 2 1/2-year low and reflecting a broader downward trend in available positions.

The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicated a slight decrease to 8.79 million from 8.85 million in October, while new hires also fell to 5.47 million from 5.83 million.

Despite fluctuations over the past two years, the overall trajectory of job openings has been declining since a peak in March, signaling a cooling labor market. The ratio of open jobs to job seekers has stabilized at approximately 1.4-to-1, a notable decrease from the nearly two open jobs per unemployed person seen post-pandemic.

Nerd Wallet analyst Elizabeth Renter said the demand for labor has cooled and the rate of people quitting their jobs has normalized. This makes the JOLTS data … a little less exciting. Less exciting is a good thing in this instance.”