“Demand for workers in the U.S. picked up slightly in February in a sign that the job market remains on strong footing, though layoffs picked up that month.”

There were a seasonally adjusted 8.8 million job openings in February, a bit higher than the prior month’s downwardly revised 8.74 million, the Labor Department reported. Openings remain well above pre-pandemic levels, but they’re down from a record high of 12.2 million in March 2022. Read the CNN article, “U.S. Job Openings Edged Higher in February as Layoffs Rose to Pre-Pandemic Levels.”