U.S. employers posted more job openings in July.

The number went up to 7.27 million.

It was 7.18 million in June.

The Labor Department said this on Tuesday.

Layoffs went down.

But fewer people quit their jobs.

Hiring went down to 5.1 million in July.

It was 5.3 million in June.

The labor market is not booming.

But it is still steady.

There is an energy shock from fighting with Iran.

This shock makes household budgets tight.

This year, employers added 61,000 net jobs a month on average.

That number is not big.

But it is better than 2025.

Then, monthly job growth was below 10,000.

The unemployment rate stays low at 4.1%.

Weekly claims for unemployment benefits are also low.

Heather Long is the chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.

She said the market is in a "low fire, low hire" mode.

She said companies are careful.

They worry about the war in Iran.

They also worry about higher borrowing costs.

Friday's report on August hiring will show 65,000 new jobs.

That is what people expect.

Forecasters from FactSet also expect the jobless rate to go up to 4.2%.