BLS Report: Number of job openings increase in December; hires and total separations change little
Related:
Wed Jan 27, 2021: BLS Report: Gross job losses 20.4 million and gross job gains 5.7 million in the 2nd quarter of 2020
People come; people go.
This is JOLTS, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. It comes out a few days after the monthly payroll employment report.
The number of quits indicates how confident people are of finding another job if they leave the one they have.
Previous reports:
Wed Jan 4, 2023: Number of job openings, hires, and total separations change little in November
December 2022: ?
November 2022: ?
Tue Oct 4, 2022: BLS Report: August job openings decrease; hires and total separations change little (this one)
Tue Aug 30, 2022: BLS Report: July job openings change little; hires and total separations also change little
Tue Aug 30, 2022: Job vacancies rose in July, dashing Fed hopes for cooling (in LBN)
Tue Aug 2, 2022: U.S. job openings at nine-month low; labor market still tight (in LBN)
Wed Jul 6, 2022: BLS Report: May job openings decrease; hires and total separations change little
Wed Jun 1, 2022: BLS Report: April job openings decrease; layoffs and discharges edge down to series low
Tue May 3, 2022: BLS Report: March job openings and quits reach series highs; total separations edge up
Tue Mar 29, 2022: BLS Report: February job openings and total separations change little; hires edge up
Wed Mar 9, 2022: BLS Report: January job openings, hires, and total separations change little
Tue Feb 9, 2021: BLS Report: Job openings and total separations little changed in December; hires decrease
Tue Jan 4, 2022: Job openings reach 10.6 million in November as tight labor market persists
Wed Dec 8, 2021: BLS Report: October job openings increase, total separations edge down, and hires change little
Fri Nov 12, 2021: BLS Report: September job openings and hires little changed, quits at a series high
Tue Oct 12, 2021: BLS Report: August job openings and hires decrease; total separations little changed
Wed Sep 8, 2021: BLS Report: July job openings increase to series high; hires and total separations little changed
{snip the rest}
-- -- -- -- --
Number of job openings increase in December; hires and total separations change little
Economic News Release USDL-23-0148
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary
For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Technical information: (202) 691-5870 • JoltsInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/jlt
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – DECEMBER 2022
The number of job openings increased to 11.0 million on the last business day of December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, the number of hires and total separations changed little at 6.2 million and 5.9 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (4.1 million) and layoffs and discharges (1.5 million) changed little. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector, by industry, and by establishment size class.
Job Openings
On the last business day of December, the number and rate of job openings increased to 11.0 million and 6.7 percent, respectively. In December, the largest increases in job openings were in accommodation and food services (+409,000), retail trade (+134,000), and construction (+82,000). The number of job openings decreased in information (-107,000). (See table 1.)
Hires
In December, the number and rate of hires changed little at 6.2 million and 4.0 percent, respectively. Hires changed little in all industries. (See table 2.)
Separations
Total separations includes quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. Other separations includes separations due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.
In December, the number of total separations changed little at 5.9 million, and the rate remained unchanged at 3.8 percent. The number of total separations decreased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-67,000). (See table 3.)
In December, the number of quits was little changed at 4.1 million, and the rate was unchanged at 2.7 percent. Quits decreased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-69,000) but increased in other services (+65,000). (See table 4.)
In December, the number and rate of layoffs and discharges changed little at 1.5 million and 1.0 percent, respectively. Layoffs and discharges decreased in finance and insurance (-43,000) but increased in federal government (+4,000). (See table 5.)
The number of other separations was little changed in December at 336,000. Other separations increased in retail trade (+29,000) and in health care and social assistance (+19,000). Other separations decreased in state and local government, excluding education (-10,000) and in educational services (-6,000). (See table 6.)
Establishment Size Class
In December, the job openings rate increased in establishments with 50 to 249 employees but decreased in establishments with 5,000 or more employees. The total separations rate increased in establishments with 10 to 49 employees but decreased in establishments with 50 to 249 employees and 250 to 999 employees. The quits rate increased in establishments with 10 to 49 employees but decreased in establishments with 50 to 249 employees and 250 to 999 employees. For a more in-depth description of the JOLTS establishment size class estimates, please visit www.bls.gov/jlt/sizeclassmethodology.htm.
____________
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey estimates for January 2023 are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
___________________________________________________________________________________
|Upcoming Changes to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey Data
|Effective with the release of January 2023 data on March 8, 2023, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover
|Survey (JOLTS) estimates will be revised to incorporate the annual updates to the Current Employment
|Statistics employment data and the JOLTS seasonal adjustment factors. Not seasonally adjusted data and
|seasonally adjusted data from January 2018 forward are subject to revision. In accordance with annual
|practice, additional historical data may be revised as a result of the benchmark process. Also effective
|with this release, JOLTS is adopting the 2022 version of the North American Industry Classification
|System (NAICS), which has a minimal impact on the published JOLTS data series. For more
|information on the 2022 NAICS, visit www.census.gov/naics.
|
|Also effective with the release of January data, JOLTS will begin publishing two new tables presenting
|annual average job openings levels and rates. (Annual estimates of levels and rates are published each
|year with January data.) In addition, JOLTS will modify its method for calculating annual estimates for
|hires and separations rates. Annual rates will be computed as annual averages, instead of annual totals,
|to make the estimates more helpful for data users and to be consistent with other Bureau of Labor
|Statistics programs.
|
|JOLTS will introduce several changes to the monthly news release tables beginning with the news
|release for January data. Two tables displaying JOLTS data by size class will be added to the news
|release: one for seasonally adjusted estimates and the other for not seasonally adjusted estimates. JOLTS
|will also introduce over-the-month change columns for levels and rates to tables 1 through 6. To
|accommodate the new tables, tables starting with table 7 will be renumbered.
|
|Additional information about these changes, including the annual average calculation method and
|sample table shells for all news release tables, is available at www.bls.gov/jlt/jolts-2023-changes.htm.
|__________________________________________________________________________________