The Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said that the number of job openings in December was 11.01 million, up from the preliminary figure reported last month. Both hiring and total separations were up from last month’s revised figures for the economy as a whole. Within total separations, quits edged lower rose while layoffs rose.
Hiring outpaces firing
For a discussion of the JOLT report and how it relates to the Employment Situation Report, please see the paragraph at the end of this article.
The BLS reported that job openings were up by 572,000 at the end of December from the revised level of the month before. The December job openings figure represents 6.7 percent of total employment plus job openings. For comparison, the unemployment rate in December was reported to be 3.4 percent and 5.7 million people were unemployed. Another 5.3 million people said that they would like a job but were not counted as being in the labor force since they were not actively seeking employment.
The number of people hired for a new job in December was 6.17 million, while the number of people leaving their old jobs was 5.89 million. Of those leaving their jobs, 4.09 million quit voluntarily, representing 69 percent of total separations, while 1.47 million people were involuntarily separated from their jobs. The remainder of people leaving their jobs left for other reasons, such as retirements or transfers. The portion of people quitting their jobs was unchanged from last month’s figure at 2.7 percent of the labor force. The involuntary separations rate was up slightly from last month’s revised figure at 1.0 percent.
Construction employment rises
The first chart, below, shows the employment situation for the construction jobs market over the last 37 months. It shows that December saw a net increase of 33,000 jobs.
Construction jobs openings in December were reported to be 413,000 jobs, 15 percent higher than the year-earlier level. On a month-over-month basis, openings for construction jobs were reported to rise by 82,000 openings from November’s revised (-57,000) job openings figure. Job openings in the construction category represent 5.0 percent of total employment plus job openings, up from the 4.8 percent level reported last month.
Hiring was reported to be up by 34,000 jobs in December from the prior month’s revised (+14,000) jobs figure at 357,000 new hires. The number of construction jobs that were filled in December was reported to be down 4 percent year-over-year.
Construction jobs total separations were reported to rise by 31,000 jobs from the prior month’s revised (+7,000) figure to 324,000 jobs. Quits were reported to rise by 20,000 jobs from November’s unchanged figure to a level of 158,000 jobs. Layoffs were reported to rise by 12,000 from November’s revised (+12,000) figure to 153,000 jobs. “Other separations” which includes retirements and transfers, were reported to be unchanged at 13,000 jobs. Quits represented 49 percent of separations for the month, up from the revised level of 47 percent reported for November.
RERL employment higher despite slower hiring
The last chart, below, shows the employment situation for the real estate and rental and leasing (RERL) jobs category. Employment in this jobs category was reported to rise by 13,000 jobs in December. Data revisions resulted in last month’s reported employment gain being revised lower to a gain of 7,000 jobs.
The number of job openings in the RERL category was 157,000 jobs at the end of December. This was reported to be down 22,000 job openings from the revised (+9,000) level of the month before. Job openings in December were 37 percent higher than their year-earlier level. Job openings in the RERL category represent 6.2 percent of total employment plus job openings.
Hiring in December was down by 6,000 jobs from November’s revised (-7,000) level at 74,000 jobs. This hiring figure was 12 percent below the year-earlier level.
Total separations in the RERL jobs category in December were down 12,000 jobs from November’s revised (-1,000) figure at 61,000 jobs. Quits fell by 4,000 jobs from November’s revised (-2,000) figure to 45,000 jobs. Quits were reported to be down 8 percent for the month and represented 74 percent of total separations in December.
The numbers given in the JOLT report are seasonally adjusted and are subject to revision. It is common for small adjustments to be made in subsequent reports, particularly to the data for the most recent month. The full current JOLT report can be found here.
Comparing the reports
The US labor market is very dynamic with many people changing jobs in any given month. The JOLT report documents this dynamism by providing details about job openings, hiring and separations. However, it does not break down the jobs market into as fine categories as does the Employment Situation Report, which provides data on total employment and unemployment. For example, while the Employment Situation Report separates residential construction from other construction employment, the JOLT report does not. The Employment Situation Report separates residential property managers from other types of real estate and rental and leasing professionals, but the JOLT report does not. However, the JOLT report provides a look at what is driving the employment gains (or losses) in broad employment categories.
