Job Openings and Labor Turnover: January 2016

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.

The number of job openings rose to 5.5 million on the last business day of January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires declined to 5.0 million while separations edged down to 4.9 million. Within separations, the quits rate was 2.0 percent, and the layoffs and discharges rate was 1.2 percent. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by industry and by four geographic regions. The release also includes 2015 annual estimates for hires and separations. The annual number of hires and quits increased in 2015, while the annual number of layoffs and discharges edged up, and the annual number of other separations was essentially unchanged.

Job Openings

Job openings remain at historically high levels, rising to 5.5 million (+260,000) in January. The job openings rate was 3.7 percent. The number of job openings increased in January for total private (+289,000) and was little changed for government. Job openings increased in wholesale trade (+74,000) and construction (+61,000) but decreased in educational services (-40,000) and state and local government education (-16,000). In the regions, job openings increased in the Midwest over the month. (See table 1.)

Hires

The number of hires decreased to 5.0 million (-372,000) in January. The hires rate was 3.5 percent. The number of hires decreased for total private (-333,000) and government (-38,000) in January. The decline in hires was widespread across industries. There was a decline in hires in health care and social assistance (-49,000), educational services (-42,000), transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-34,000), and state and local government (-32,000). Hires also edged down in professional and business services (-101,000), accommodation and food services (-67,000), state and local government, excluding education (-16,000), and federal government (-6,000). In the regions, hires decreased in the South. (See table 2.)

Separations

Total separations includes quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Total separations is referred to as turnover. 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, and disability, as well as transfers to other locations of the same firm.

There were 4.9 million total separations in January, edging down (-225,000) from December. The total separations rate in January was 3.4 percent. The number of total separations edged down for total private (-199,000) and government (-26,000). Total separations rose in information (+19,000) but fell in accommodation and food services (-122,000) and in state and local government, excluding education (-19,000). In the regions, the number of total separations fell in the South. (See table 3.)

The number of quits fell to 2.8 million (-284,000) in January. The quits rate was 2.0 percent. The number of quits fell for total private (-286,000) and was little changed for government over the month. Quits fell in construction (-56,000), transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-34,000), professional and business services (-80,000), and health care and social assistance (-49,000). Quits decreased in 3 out of the 4 regions over the month: Northeast, South, and West. (See table 4.)

There were 1.7 million layoffs and discharges in January, little changed from December. The layoffs and discharges rate was 1.2 percent. The number of layoffs and discharges was little changed over the month for total private and edged down for government (-21,000). Seasonally adjusted estimates of layoffs and discharges are now available for individual industries, although for industries where no seasonal pattern was detected, the seasonally adjusted estimates are identical to the not seasonally adjusted estimates. In January, layoffs and discharges rose in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+31,000) and federal government (+8,000) but fell in accommodation and food services (-72,000) and state and local government education (-16,000). The number of layoffs and discharges was little changed over the month in the regions. (See table 5.)

In January, other separations rose to 437,000 (+69,000). Over the month, the number of other separations rose for total private to 378,000 (+75,000) and was little changed for government at 58,000. Seasonally adjusted estimates of other separations are now available for individual industries and regions, although for industries and regions where no seasonal pattern was detected, the seasonally adjusted estimates are identical to the not seasonally adjusted estimates. In January, the number of other separations increased in health care and social assistance (+22,000), transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+19,000), real estate and rental and leasing (+9,000), and information (+8,000), and edged up in finance and insurance (+12,000). The number of other separations decreased in federal government (-4,000). In the regions, the number of other separations rose in the South and West. (See table 6.)

Net Change in Employment

Large numbers of hires and separations occur every month throughout the business cycle. Net employment change results from the relationship between hires and separations. When the number of hires exceeds the number of separations, employment rises, even if the hires level is steady or declining. Conversely, when the number of hires is less than the number of separations, employment declines, even if the hires level is steady or rising. Over the 12 months ending in January 2016, hires totaled 61.7 million and separations totaled 59.0 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.7 million. These totals include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.

Annual Levels and Rates

This release contains the 2015 annual levels and rates for hires, total separations, quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Note that annual figures for job openings are not calculated because job openings are measured on a stock, or point-in-time, basis rather than on a flow basis over a specified time period. The annual figures and additional tables are published with the release of January data each year. (See the Technical Note for additional information on these measures.)

Calculating annual levels and rates allows additional comparisons across years. In 2015, annual levels for hires and quits rose for the sixth consecutive year. Hires reached 61.7 million (43.5 percent of employment) and quits reached 33.4 million (23.6 percent of employment). The layoffs and discharges annual level edged up in 2015 for the second year, reaching 20.9 million (14.8 percent of employment). The annual level for other separations was essentially flat in 2015 at 4.6 million (3.2 percent of employment) after rising the past three years. The annual level for total separations (the sum of quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations) rose for the fifth consecutive year, reaching 58.9 million (41.5 percent of employment) in 2015. (See tables 13 through 22.)

(1) No regular seasonal movements could be identified in the job openings series, therefore, the seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted data are identical. (p) Preliminary NOTE: Data have been revised to incorporate the annual updates to the Current Employment Statistics employment estimates and the JOLTS seasonal adjustment factors.

Revisions to Job Openings and Labor Turnover Data

In accordance with annual practice, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data have been revised to reflect annual updates to the Current Employment Statistics (CES), or establishment survey, employment estimates. The JOLTS employment levels (not published) are ratio adjusted to the CES employment levels, and the resulting ratios are applied to all JOLTS data elements. In most years, this annual benchmark process would result in the revision of 21 months of not seasonally adjusted data. However, this year the Current Employment Statistics program received corrected employment data for January 2000 through March 2015 for some establishments that provide in-home support services for the elderly and people with disabilities. (For more information on this year’s CES benchmark and the reclassification of jobs, see www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbmart.htm.) These updated data required a retabulation of the JOLTS series for that time period. Additionally, new seasonal factors have been developed based on the full revised JOLTS series and have been applied to the data from December 2000 forward.

Beginning with this release, JOLTS is adding two new subseries for state and local government: state and local education, and state and local, excluding education. Also, JOLTS now has seasonally adjusted data for all JOLTS series. Previously, not all industries were available on a seasonally adjusted basis; industry data for layoffs and discharges were not available; and industry and region data for other separations were not available.

Tables B through G below present revised total nonfarm data for January through December 2015. The December 2015 revisions also reflect the routine incorporation of additional sample receipts into the final December estimates. Tables presenting revisions to total nonfarm data for December 2000 through 2014 will be available later today on the JOLTS website. The website also contains all revised seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted data. The revision tables and data can be accessed through the JOLTS homepage at www.bls.gov/jlt/.