US Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary for March

On Tuesday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the results of its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for March.

As of the last business day in March, job openings were little changed at 7.2 million, but down 901,000 from a year earlier. The openings rate held steady at 4.3%.

Other highlights of the JOLTS report are as follows:

• The number of hires was unchanged at 5.4 million, and the hire rate remained at 3.4%.
• Total separations also held steady at 5.1 million, with a separation rate of 3.2%.
• The number of quits was unchanged at 3.3 million, and the quits rate showed little change at 2.1%.
• Layoffs and discharges edged down to 1.6 million, while the rate remained essentially unchanged at 1.0%.
• The number of other separations was little changed at 267,000.

Establishments with 1 to 9 employees and establishments with 5,000 or more employees both showed little or no change in job openings, hires, and separations rates.

Monthly Revisions

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 February was revised down by 88,000 to 7.5 million, the number of hires was revised down by 26,000 to 5.4 million, and the number of total separations was revised up by 55,000 to 5.3 million. Within separations, the number of quits was revised up by 55,000 to 3.3 million, and the number of layoffs and discharges was revised down by 10,000 to 1.8 million.