Job Openings and Labor Turnover: December 2009

Historical release narrative reproduced from the official public-domain source. Statistical tables, standard technical appendices, administrative material and attendance rosters are omitted; formatting is adapted for reading. Figures retain the release's historical context and may have been revised. Consult the linked source for the complete document.

There were 2.5 million job openings on the last business day of December 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The job openings rate was little changed over the month at 1.9 percent. The job openings rate has held relatively steady since March 2009. The hires rate (3.1 percent) and the separations rate (3.2 percent) were essentially unchanged in December. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector by industry and geographic region.

Job Openings

The job openings rate was little changed in December at 1.9 percent. The rate has been 1.8 percent or 1.9 percent since March 2009. In December, the job openings rate increased in state and local government and decreased in the Midwest. (See table 1.)

Over the 12 months ending in December, the job openings rate (not seasonally adjusted) decreased for total nonfarm and total private and was unchanged in government. The job openings rate also decreased over that period in educational services and health care and social assistance and in the South and Midwest. (See table 5.)

Hires

The hires rate was unchanged in December, remaining at 3.1 percent for the fifth consecutive month. The rate hovered between 3.0 percent and 3.2 percent since February 2009. After falling from the most recent peak of 5.6 million hires in July 2006, the hires level reached a low point in June 2009 of 3.9 million. In December 2009, the hires level was 4.1 million. The hires rate decreased in professional and business services and was essentially unchanged for all four regions. (See table 2.)

Over the 12 months ending in December, the hires rate (not seasonally adjusted) was little changed for total nonfarm, total private, and government. The hires rate increased for transportation, warehousing, and utilities and was essentially unchanged in all four regions. (See table 6.)

Separations

Total separations includes quits (voluntary separations), layoffs and discharges (involuntary separations), and other separations (including retirements). The total separations, or turnover, rate was little changed in December and remained low at 3.2 percent. The total separations rate (not seasonally adjusted) decreased over the 12 months ending in December for total nonfarm and total private while the rate for government was little changed. (See tables 3 and 7.)

The quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to change jobs. The quits rate decreased for total nonfarm and total private and was unchanged for government in December. The quits rate was essentially unchanged in all industries and all four regions. After falling from the most recent peak of 3.2 million in December 2006, the number of quits has held steady at 1.8 million or 1.9 million since February 2009. (See table 4.)

Over the 12 months ending in December, the quits rate (not seasonally adjusted) was essentially unchanged for total nonfarm and government and decreased for total private. The quits rate decreased in retail trade. The quits rate was essentially unchanged in all four regions. (See table 8.)

The layoffs and discharges component of total separations is seasonally adjusted at the total nonfarm, total private, and government levels. The layoffs and discharges levels for total nonfarm, total private, and government were little changed in December at 2.1 million, 2.0 million, and 117,000 respectively. The corresponding layoffs and discharges rates were 1.6 percent, 1.8 percent, and 0.5 percent. The number of layoffs and discharges at the total nonfarm level peaked at 2.6 million in January 2009; the most recent trough was 1.6 million in January 2006. (See table B below.)

The layoffs and discharges rate (not seasonally adjusted) was little changed over the 12 months ending in December for total nonfarm and government and decreased for total private. The layoffs and discharges rate fell in durable goods; wholesale trade; and professional and business services. The rate rose in transportation, warehousing, and utilities as well as federal government. The layoffs and discharges rate remained essentially unchanged in all four regions. (See table 9.)

The other separations series is not seasonally adjusted. In December, there were 289,000 other separations for total nonfarm, 236,000 for total private, and 53,000 for government. Compared to

December 2008, the number of other separations was little changed for total nonfarm and total private, and rose for government. (See table 10.)

The total separations level is influenced by the relative contribution of its three components—quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. The percentage of total separations at the total nonfarm level attributable to the individual components has varied over time. The proportion of quits had exceeded the proportion of layoffs and discharges every month from the beginning of the series from December 2000 until November 2008 when layoffs and discharges became the larger contributor to total separations. The proportion of separations due to quits fell to a series low of 38 percent in April 2009 and is now 42 percent in December 2009. The proportion of separations due to layoffs and discharges rose to a series high of 55 percent in July 2009 and is now 49 percent in December 2009. (See tables 3 and 4, and table B above.)

Net Change in Employment

Over the 12 months ending in December, hires totaled 49.4 million and separations totaled 53.6 million, yielding a net employment loss of 4.2 million.