US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary for February

On Tuesday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the results of its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for February. As of the last business day in February, the number of job openings was little changed at 7.6 million. Year-over-year, the number of job openings was down 877,000. The job openings rate, at 4.5%, changed little over the month.

Other highlights of the JOLTS report are as follows:

• The number and rate of hires were unchanged at 5.4 million and 3.4%, respectively.
• The number and rate of total separations were unchanged at 5.3 million and 3.3%, respectively.
• The number quits was little changed at 3.2 million but was down 273,000 year-over-year. The quits rate was unchanged at 2.0%.
• The number and rate of layoffs and discharges changed little at 1.8 million and 1.1%, respectively.
• The number of other separations decreased 67,000 to 275,000.

The quits rate and other separations rate decreased for establishments with 1 to 9 employees, while the layoffs and discharges rate increased. The job openings, hires, and total separations rate changed little for establishments with 1 to 9 employees. For establishments with 5,000 or more employees, all rates showed little or no 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.

The number of job openings for January was revised up by 22,000 to 7.8 million, the number of hires was revised down by 22,000 to 5.4 million, and the number of total separations was revised up by 20,000 to 5.3 million. Within separations, the number of quits was revised down by 10,000 to 3.3 million, and the number of layoffs and discharges was revised up by 39,000 to 1.7 million