Job openings decrease to 5.4 million in August; hires and separations are little changed
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Economic News Release
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary
For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Friday, October 16, 2015 USDL-15-2008
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JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – AUGUST 2015
The number of job openings decreased to 5.4 million on the last business day of August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The number of hires and separations was little changed at 5.1 million and 4.8 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate was 1.9 percent for the fifth month in a row, and the layoffs and discharges rate was unchanged at 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.
Job Openings
Job openings decreased to 5.4 million in August after reaching a series high of 5.7 million in July. The job openings rate for August was 3.6 percent, the same rate as in April, May, and June. The number of job openings decreased in August for total private and government. Job openings declined in state and local government (-33,000) and nondurable goods manufacturing (-25,000). The number of openings was little changed in all four regions. (See table 1.)
The number of job openings (not seasonally adjusted) increased over the 12 months ending in August for total nonfarm, total private and government. Job openings rose over the year for several industries with the largest increases occurring in professional and business services (+184,000) and in health care and social assistance (+103,000). Job openings decreased over the year in arts, entertainment, and recreation (-31,000) and in mining and logging (-14,000). Among the regions, the number of job openings increased over the year in the South (+198,000), Midwest (+109,000), and the West (+109,000). (See table 7.)
Hires
The number of hires was 5.1 million in August, about the same as in July. The hires rate was 3.6 percent. The number of hires was little changed for total private and government in August. There was little change in the number of hires in all industries and regions over the month. (See table 2.)
Over the 12 months ending in August, the number of hires (not seasonally adjusted) rose for total nonfarm, total private, and government. At the industry level, hires increased in accommodation and food services (+165,000), state and local government (+129,000), health care and social assistance (+87,000), and federal government (+9,000). Among the regions, the number of hires rose in the Northeast (+151,000) and in the South (+144,000). (See table 8.)
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The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey results for September 2015 are scheduled to be released on Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. (EST).
Read more: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
Job Openings and Labor Turnover
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Oct 16, 2015
Economy
Labor Market Turnover Changes Little in August as Job Openings Fall Slightly
By Josh Zumbrun
@JoshZumbrun
[email protected]
The underlying churning of the U.S. labor market was little changed in August. The amount of hiring and job separation—both voluntary quitting and involuntary layoffs and firing—that underlies the U.S. labor market all were little changed. The number of job openings decreased from 5.7 million to 5.4 million.
The data comes from the Labor Department’s monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary. In August the U.S. economy added 136,000 jobs on net. The Jolts survey tracks the millions of movements behind that number as people quit one job and find new work, as they get laid off or as they retire. Economists closely follow for hints that the labor market could be gathering steam or slowing down. Today’s report provides little nudge in either direction.
For much of the past year, the report has presented a conundrum, which remains after today’s report. The level of job openings has surged to record highs, but actual hiring into those jobs has lagged. July’s 5.7 million job openings was the highest in the history of the report, and more than 30% higher than its prerecession level. The level of job openings, by contrast, has recovered to its prerecession level but risen no higher. Yet the unemployment and underemployment rates suggest there should be plenty of candidates to fill these jobs.
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