Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast job listings to total 9.5 million.

The number of job openings is seen as a cue to the health of the labor market and the broader U.S. economy. Job postings have dropped from a record high last spring, but they are still much higher than the Fed would like.

The Fed wants to see job openings and hiring slow even further to ease the upward pressure on inflation.

The number of people quitting jobs, meanwhile, fell slightly to 3.79 million. Quits dipped below 4 million in January for the first time since mid-2021, but they have moved sideways since then.

By virtually every measure, the jobs market is still historically strong.

Big picture: The Fed is worried a tight labor market — too many jobs and not enough workers — will make it harder to get high inflation under control.

Companies have to pay a lot more to attract talent and they are trying to pass those costs onto customers. Labor is the biggest expense for most businesses.

That’s not all. Recent U.S. inflation readings and reports on consumer spending have also been stronger than expected.

The result: the Fed could be forced to consider whether to raise rates again at its June 13-14 meeting instead of skipping an 11th straight increase. Senior central bank officials had been hoping to stay put for awhile to judge the effect of prior rate hikes on the economy.

Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.85%
and S&P 500
SPX,
-0.82%
extended losses in Wednesday trades after the job-openings report. Bond yields
TMUBMUSD10Y,
3.662%
slipped to 3.67%.