US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary for December

On Tuesday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for December. The report showed that job openings fell to 7.6 million by the end of December, a decrease of 556,000 from the previous month. Year-over-year, job openings were down by 1.3 million. The job openings rate stood at 4.5%.

Hires remained largely unchanged at 5.5 million in December but were down by 325,000 over the year. The hires rate held steady at 3.4%.

Total separations were little changed at 5.3 million, with the separations rate remaining at 3.3%. Quits also saw minimal change at 3.2 million but declined by 242,000 year-over-year, with the quits rate holding at 2.0%. Layoffs and discharges remained steady at 1.8 million, with a rate of 1.1%. Other separations were virtually unchanged at 302,000.

By establishment size, businesses with 1 to 9 employees saw little to no change in job openings, hires, separations, quits, or layoffs. In contrast, establishments with 5,000 or more employees experienced an increase in layoffs and total separations, while job openings, hires, and quits showed little change.

Monthly Revisions

Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from businesses and government agencies since the last published estimates and from the recalculation of seasonal factors.

Job openings for November were revised up by 58,000 to 8.2 million, hires increased by 104,000 to 5.4 million, and total separations rose by 105,000 to 5.2 million. Within separations, quits were revised up by 65,000 to 3.1 million, and layoffs and discharges increased by 35,000 to 1.8 million.