The U.S. Department of Labor announced today, Tuesday, that the number of job vacancies in the U.S. economy sharply declined during last July, indicating weakness in labor market conditions and its damage from the U.S. interest rate hike.

The report stated that there were 10.70 million job vacancies on the last day of July, while it was expected to record about 10.99 million jobs, whereas the previous reading of the job turnover index recorded about 11.25 million jobs during last June, and it was revised upward.

These data are released later in the month. However, they may affect the market as the job vacancies index is a leading indicator for measuring employment rates in general.

Job vacancy data provide additional information about the labor market. In addition, they provide information about changes in net job numbers. The labor market is also divided into changes in job vacancies, hiring, and separations.