Job Openings and Labor Turnover: January 2023

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 decreased to 10.8 million on the last business day of January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, the number of hires and total separations changed little at 6.4 million and 5.9 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (3.9 million) decreased, while layoffs and discharges (1.7 million) increased. 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. This release also presents 2022 annual estimates for job openings, hires, and separations.

Job Openings

On the last business day of January, the number and rate of job openings decreased to 10.8 million (-410,000) and 6.5 percent, respectively. In January, the largest decreases in job openings were in construction (-240,000), accommodation and food services (-204,000), and finance and insurance (-100,000). The number of job openings increased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+94,000) and in nondurable goods manufacturing (+50,000). (See table 1.)

Hires

In January, the number and rate of hires changed little at 6.4 million and 4.1 percent, respectively. Hires changed little in all industries. (See table 2.)

Separations

Total separations include 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 include separations due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.

In January, the number of total separations changed little at 5.9 million. The rate was unchanged at 3.8 percent. The number of total separations decreased in federal government (-13,000). (See table 3.)

In January, the number of quits decreased to 3.9 million (-207,000), and the rate was little changed at 2.5 percent. Quits decreased in professional and business services (-221,000), educational services (-14,000), and federal government (-5,000). (See table 4.)

In January, the number of layoffs and discharges increased to 1.7 million (+241,000). The rate was little changed at 1.1 percent. Layoffs and discharges increased in professional and business services (+190,000) but decreased in federal government (-5,000). (See table 5.)

The number of other separations was little changed in January at 302,000. Other separations decreased in professional and business services (-29,000), finance and insurance (-20,000), and health care and social assistance (-18,000). The number of other separations increased in accommodation and food services (+15,000); information (+11,000); and arts, entertainment, and recreation (+4,000). (See table 6.)

Establishment Size Class

In January, establishments with 1 to 9 employees saw little change in their job openings rate, hires rate, and total separations rate, but quits rate decreased. Establishments with more than 5,000 employees saw little change in their job openings rate, hires rate, and total separations rate. (See table 7.)

Annual Levels and Rates

Consistent with BLS practice, annual estimates are published for not seasonally adjusted data each year with the January news release.

The annual average level of job openings is the average of the 12 monthly levels. Annual levels for hires and separations are the sum of the 12 monthly levels.

Annual average rates for job openings are computed by dividing the sum of the 12 monthly JOLTS levels by the sum of the 12 monthly Current Employment Statistics (CES) employment levels plus the sum of the 12 monthly job openings levels, and multiplying that quotient by 100.

Annual average rates for hires and separations are computed by dividing the sum of the 12 monthly JOLTS levels for each data element by the sum of the 12 monthly CES employment levels, and multiplying that quotient by 100.

In 2022, the annual average job openings level was 11.2 million, an increase of 1.2 million from 2021. The annual average job openings rate was 6.8 percent in 2022, compared to 6.4 percent in 2021. (See tables 15 and 16.) In 2022, there were 77.2 million hires, an increase of 1.2 million from 2021. Total separations increased by 3.2 million in 2022 to 72.3 million. Accounting for 70.0 percent of total separations, quits numbered 50.6 million in 2022, the highest annual level in the survey’s history (JOLTS annual estimates are available back to 2001). Layoffs and discharges increased by 461,000 in 2022 to 17.6 million and accounted for 24.3 percent of total separations. Other separations decreased by 138,000 in 2022 to 4.1 million and accounted for 5.7 percent of total separations. (See tables 17 through 26.)

The annual average hires rate for 2022 was 4.2 percent, similar to the rate of 4.3 percent from 2021. The annual average total separations rate for 2022 was 3.9 percent, unchanged from the previous year. The annual average rates for the components of total separations were 2.8 percent for quits, 1.0 percent for layoffs and discharges, and 0.2 percent for other separations. (See tables 17 through 26.)

(p) Preliminary NOTE: Data are revised with the release of January data 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 updates to the Current Employment Statistics (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. The seasonally adjusted data are recalculated for the most recent 5 years 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 to reflect the effect of the updated seasonal adjustment factors on the alignment process. With this annual revision, JOLTS also converted to the 2022 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) from NAICS 2017. The conversion had a minimal impact on the published JOLTS data series. Tables B through G below present revised total nonfarm data for January through December 2022. The December 2022 revisions also reflect the routine incorporation of additional sample receipts into the final December estimates. Tables presenting revisions to total nonfarm data for January 2018 through December 2022 will be available on the JOLTS website later in the day following the release. 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/.