US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary for January

On Tuesday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the results of its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for January. As of the last business day in January, the number of job openings was little changed at 7.7 million. Year-over-year, the number of openings was down 728,000. The job openings rate, at 4.6%, changed little over the month.

Other highlights of the January 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 little changed at 5.3 million and 3.3%, respectively.
• The number and rate of quits were little changed at 3.3 million and 2.1%, respectively.
• The number and rate of layoffs and discharges changed little at 1.6 million and 1.0%, respectively.
• The number of other separations changed little at 350,000.

The quits rate increased for establishments with 1 to 9 employees, while the job openings, hires, layoffs and discharges, and total separations rates showed little change. 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 December was revised down by 92,000 to 7.5 million; the number of hires was revised down by 88,000 to 5.4 million; and the number of total separations was revised down by 187,000 to 5.1 million. Within separations, the number of quits was revised down by 102,000 to 3.1 million, and the number of layoffs and discharges was revised down by 102,000 to 1.7 million.