Job-seekers found fewer opportunities in October, as the number of openings continued to fall toward pre-pandemic levels.

The number of job openings fell by 600,000 to 8.7 million from September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday. Put another way, there were 1.3 job openings for every unemployed worker in October, close to the pre-pandemic ratio of 1.2, and a far cry from March 2022 when there were two jobs for everyone out of work. 

The job opening pullback was three times the average 200,000 dropoff predicted among forecasters polled by Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal.

The report was the latest indication that the labor market, tilted in favor of w𓃲orkers since the recovery from the pandemic, is coming more into balance—for better or for worse depending on whether you’re signing paychecks or cashing one. 

Less demand for labor means workers have less bargaining power, and less leverage to demand higher wages. Still, there were plenty of jobs by historical standards and the layoff rate remained near historic lows at 1%.

That will all likely be welcome news for officials at the Federal Reserve who set the nation’s monetary policy. They🌸 have been waging a war on inflation by squeezing the economy wit🅘h interest rate hikes since early last year, making it costlier for companies to get the loans they need to hire and expand. 

Fed officials have worried that surging wages were fueling price increases. Signs of the cooling job market could convince the Fed that it doesn’t need🐷 to raise its influential fed funds rate above its current level, which standཧs at a𝔉 22-year high. 

And the lack of layoffs shows the Fed hasn’t yet caused a recession by making borrowing so expensive for consumers and companies that business grinds to a halt.

“These trends indicate more balance between demand and supply in line with the narrative of moderation within the labor market,” said Noah Yosif, lead labor economist at UKG, a human resources software comꦇpany, in a commentary. “There are jobs available for those who want them, which means businesses need to focus on creating great workplace experiences to support recruiting and retention.”