Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for June 2020

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has posted its Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for June 2020. According to the JOLTS report the number of job openings increased to 5.9 million as of the last business day of June. These changes in the labor market reflected a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. After hitting the largest monthly increase in hires on record in May 2020, June’s hires decreased to 6.7 million, but was still the second highest level in the series history.  Total separations increased to 4.8 million. Job openings decreased in construction by ~70,000. The June hires rate decreased to 4.9%. Hires decreased in a number of industries, with the largest fall in other services (-326,000), followed by health care and social assistance (-282,000), and construction (-181,000). Over the 12 month period ending in June, hires totaled 70.2 million and separations totaled 79.1 million, yielding a net employment loss of -8.9 million. These totals include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.