The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that U.S. job openings fell for a third straight month in July. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that job openings dropped 338,000 to 8.82 million on the last day of July, the lowest level since March, 2021, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. Data for June were revised lower to show 9.16 million job openings instead of the previously reported 9.58 million. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 9.46 million job openings in July. The labour market has remained resilient despite 525 basis points in interest-rate hikes from the Fed since March, 2022, in part as employers filled positions, which opened up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies have also been reluctant to lay off workers after experiencing difficulties finding labour during the pandemic. The unemployment rate is hovering near levels last seen more than 50 years ago. Fed chair Jerome Powell said last Friday that the U.S. central bank "will proceed carefully as we decide whether to tighten further or, instead, to hold the policy rate constant and await further data." Financial markets expect the Fed will leave its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged at on Sept. 19.