As long as that is the case, it is difficult to imagine job growth getting much of a dent—indeed, the biggest constraint on the job market is probably still businesses’ ability to find workers at a price they are willing to pay. This suggests that rising wages will remain a threat to bottom lines while giving Fed policy makers more reason to worry that labor cost pressures could keep inflation elevated.

So Tuesday’s report was good news for workers, but not such good news for stock investors. It made another 0.75-percentage-point rate increase from the Fed when policy makers meet next month seem increasingly likely, while also strengthening the case that the Fed will keep raising rates well into next year. Stocks sold off sharply following the report’s release.

Indeed, if job openings need to fall to bring job growth to a level Fed policy makers feel comfortable with, the central bank could have a lot of work to do. Even if, with Covid-19 worries dissipating, a substantial number of people enter the labor force in the months ahead and take unfilled jobs, there still would be a very high level of job openings. Moreover, there are a number of job categories for which employment levels seem unnaturally low and demand for workers might only intensify as the pandemic’s grip loosens. There were 6% fewer people employed at auto dealers in July than in February 2020, for example; if supply-chain troubles ease and dealers are finally able to get more cars on their lots, they will want more workers and advertise more openings.

Given enough Fed tightening, the number of job openings comes down, of course, and job growth, too. The danger is that by that point it won’t just be investors and a couple of sectors that are in trouble but pretty much everybody. The more hawkish the central bank gets, the more dangerous the economic environment could be.