Job Openings and Labor Turnover: January 2020

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 7.0 million (+411,000) on the last business day of January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and separations were little changed at 5.8 million and 5.6 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate was unchanged at 2.3 percent and the layoffs and discharges rate was little changed at 1.1 percent. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector, by industry, and by four geographic regions. The release also includes 2019 annual estimates for hires and separations. The annual number of hires at 69.9 million and the annual number of quits at 42.1 million increased in 2019. The annual number of layoffs and discharges at 21.7 million edged down in 2019.

Job Openings

On the last business day of January, the job openings level rose to 7.0 million (+411,000), and the job openings rate increased to 4.4 percent. Over the month, the number of job openings increased for total private (+370,000) and edged up for government (+40,000). Job openings increased in finance and insurance (+65,000), federal government (+38,000), and mining and logging (+8,000). The number of job openings rose in the South region. (See table 1.)

Hires

In January, the number and rate of hires was little changed at 5.8 million and 3.8 percent, respectively. The hires level was little changed in all industries. The number of hires decreased in the Midwest region. (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, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.

In January, the number and rate of total separations was little changed at 5.6 million and 3.7 percent, respectively. The number of total separations decreased in federal government (-6,000). The total separations level decreased in the West region. (See table 3.)

The number of quits was little changed in January at 3.5 million and the rate was unchanged at 2.3 percent. The quits level was little changed for total private but fell for government (-18,000). Quits decreased in other services (-46,000), state and local government education (-12,000), and federal government (-5,000). The quits level increased in real estate and rental and leasing (+14,000). The number of quits was little changed in all four regions. (See table 4.)

The number of layoffs and discharges decreased in January to 1.7 million (-209,000) and the rate was little changed at 1.1 percent. Layoffs and discharges decreased for total private (-214,000) but was little changed for government. The layoffs and discharges level decreased in real estate and rental and leasing (-15,000) and mining and logging (-9,000). The number of layoffs and discharges decreased in the South region. (See table 5.)

The number of other separations increased in January (+58,000). Other separations increased for total private (+61,000) but was little changed for government. The largest increases in other separations were in health care and social assistance (+26,000) and transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+9,000). The number of other separations increased in the South region. (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, hires totaled 70.0 million and separations totaled 67.9 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.1 million. These totals include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.

Annual Levels and Rates

Consistent with BLS practice, annual estimates are published for not seasonally adjusted data and are published with the January news release each year. Annual estimates are not calculated for job openings because job openings are a stock, or point-in-time, measurement for the last business day of each month. Calculating annual levels and rates allows additional comparisons across years. Annual levels for hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, other separations, and total separations are the sum of the 12 published monthly levels. Annual rates are computed by dividing the annual level by the Current Employment Statistics (CES) annual average employment level, and multiplying that quotient by 100.

In 2019, there were 69.9 million hires, an increase of 1.3 million from 2018. Total separations (the sum of quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations) rose by 1.7 million in 2019 to 67.9 million. Quits rose for the tenth consecutive year reaching 42.1 million in 2019, up by 1.8 million. Quits comprised 62.1 percent of total separations. Layoffs and discharges edged down by 64,000 in 2019 to 21.7 million and comprised 32 percent of total separations. Other separations edged down by 63,000 in 2019 to 4.0 million and comprised 5.9 percent of total separations. (See tables 13 through 22.)

The annual hires for 2019 was 46.3 percent of the annual average CES employment level. This rate has been trending upwards since 2009. The annual total separations rate for 2019 was 45.0 percent. The annual rates for the components of total separations were 27.9 percent for quits, 14.4 percent for layoffs and discharges, and 2.7 percent for other separations.

(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

The JOLTS data are revised annually to reflect annual updates to the CES 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. This annual benchmarking process results in revisions to both the seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted JOLTS data series, for the period since the last benchmark was established. The seasonally adjusted data are recalculated for the most recent 5 years in order to reflect updated seasonal adjustment factors. Further, the alignment methodology creates a dependency of the not seasonally adjusted estimates on the seasonal adjustment process. Therefore, the data series that are not seasonally adjusted are also recalculated for the most recent 5 years in order to reflect the effect of the updated seasonal adjustment factors on the alignment process.

Tables B through G below present revised total nonfarm data for January through December 2019. The December 2019 revisions also reflect the routine incorporation of additional sample receipts into the final December estimates. Tables presenting revisions to total nonfarm data for January 2015 through December 2019 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/.