> <economic statistic that is rarely cited and no one has cared about before> post biggest drop in more than <arbitrary time frame>"
I recall seeing job opening changes regularly cited in the news for pretty much as long as I've been an adult (around 40 years)...it was probably cited before that too but I didn't pay much attention to the news when I was a kid.
It's really difficult from my arbitrary perspective to read it as anything other than click-bait sensationalism.
Anything that can be cited as "the biggest" negative movement or trend since any point in the past can be used to signal to our survival mechanisms, "it is important to your survival to click through to this article"
Just like money needs taken out of politics, ad revenue needs taken out of news reporting. I just wish I had a solution to propose ...
"U.S. job openings post biggest drop in more than four years"
becomes
<economic statistic that is rarely cited and no one has cared about before> post biggest drop in more than <arbitrary time frame>"
becomes
<economic statistic taht is rarely cited and no one has cared about before> post <scary descriptor> in more than <arbitrary time frame>"
becomes
"<holy shit live in fear the sky is falling and you should panic>"