The latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) saw 8 million job openings in August, topping the Street's estimate of 7.6 million openings. Glassdoor lead economist Daniel Zhao joins Wealth! to dig into the latest data and what it signals about the health of the US economy.

"I think that that job openings number kind of masks some of the weaker numbers that are actually underlying this report. So we see that the quits rate and the hires rate fell actually a little bit in August and are now at levels that are more comparable to what we've seen in 2013 to 2015, that range in time when we were still coming out of the housing crisis and the Great Recession then. So I think that even though we got a strong job openings print, the underlying metrics of the report today are actually, unfortunately, much weaker," Zhao tells Yahoo Finance.

He points to the latest data from the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index, where less than half of employees have a positive six-month business outlook for their employer. "That really goes to show you that employees have been feeling the strain of the softer job market and the softer economy over the last one to two years," Zhao explains, noting that this sentiment can be largely attributed to talk of layoffs and hiring freezes.

Zhao adds that softer hiring is being reflected in workers having fewer opportunities to switch jobs and find a better fit for them or get a raise. In addition, this is being reflected in fewer internal career opportunities, promotions, and raises. "Without more opportunities on the open market, folks are feeling a little bit stuck in their careers right now," he argues, noting the "real lack of healthy turnover in the job market."

He points to the quits rate being below 2% for the first time since June 2020 as an indicator of Americans prioritizing job security. He explains, "They can't afford to take a risk on finding a job that is a better fit for them, whether that means more career opportunities, higher pay, or better location, or better remote opportunities."

Zhao continues, "And in fact, I think that's part of the reason why you've seen some companies push harder on return to office or other changes, because they know that the balance of power has shifted."

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!

This post was written by Melanie Riehl