U.S. layoffs rose sharply in March and job openings dropped, in signs that demand for workers is cooling a year after the Federal Reserve began lifting interest rates to combat inflation. 

Layoffs rose to a seasonally adjusted 1.8 million in March from the prior month from a revised 1.6 million in February, the Labor Department said Tuesday. The increase was led by job losses in construction, leisure and hospitality and healthcare industries—sectors that have driven job growth in recent months as tech, finance and other white-collar industries cooled.