America’s labor market is beginning to find its footing again

(CNN) — The US labor market, long stuck in a “low-hire, low-fire” slog, may be starting to show a glimmer of life.

The latest official labor turnover data showed that employers increased their hiring efforts in June – an ever-so slight indication that momentum could be building.

The number of job openings had trended higher in April and May, indicating employers’ appetites were growing to expand their workforces; however, hiring remained muted.

That started to change a little in June, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics: Hiring activity, though historically subdued, hit a three-month high that month.

The number of job openings edged lower to 7.36 million but remained above levels seen last year. The number of layoffs was essentially unchanged, and voluntary quits (an indicator of employee confidence) rose to a six-month high.

“Put together, the labor market is finding steadier footing,” Nicole Bachaud, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter, wrote Tuesday.

However, plenty of wild cards remain in play, including elevated inflation, ongoing uncertainty and geopolitical volatility.

“Hires ticking up even as postings slow is the kind of detail that keeps this from reading as a market losing steam,” Bachaud added. “Whether that holds through the summer will depend a lot on whether prices and consumer spending stabilize or keeps sliding.”

Economists had expected that the estimated number of available jobs – considered a metric of labor demand – would fall in June to 7.4 million from May’s initial estimate of 7.594 million openings.

Tuesday’s data is the first in a series of critically important economic metrics released this week about the labor market, culminating with the July jobs report on Friday morning.

The June hiring uptick was largely driven by industries such as construction and manufacturing, BLS data shows. Both of those sectors also showed increases in openings.

Job openings shrank the most in industries such as wholesale trade, healthcare and leisure and hospitality.

Still, the hiring upswing seen in Tuesday’s report isn’t enough to drastically shift the narrative that the US labor market has successfully moved out of its low-momentum state, said Dan North, senior economist with Allianz Trade.

“The wheels are not coming off the bus; there’s certainly not negative job growth at the moment,” North said in an interview.

However, most of that job growth is coming from healthcare, and participation rates have also been on a decline, he added.

“It’s stable, somewhat solid, but there are signs of decay and shakiness underneath,” North added.

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