The Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said that the number of job openings in May was 9.82 million, down 496,000 openings from last month’s revised (+217,000) figure. Job openings were down 1.62 million openings from the year-ago level.
Hiring was up slightly from last month’s revised figure for the economy as a whole, rising 107,000 to a level of 6.21 million hires. Total separations rose 211,000 to a level of 5.71 million, although a downward revision to last month’s separations level accounted for half of the reported gain. Within total separations, quits rose 6.6 percent while layoffs fell 2.2 percent. Quits represented 68.4 percent of total separations for the month.
Employment rises again
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 May job openings figure represents 6.1 percent of total employment plus job openings. For comparison, the unemployment rate in May was reported to be 3.7 percent and 6.1 million people were unemployed. Another 5.5 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 excess of hiring over separations in the May JOLT report implies an employment increase of 337,000 jobs for the month.
Of those leaving their jobs in May, 4.02 million quit voluntarily, while 1.56 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 up from last month’s figure at 2.6 percent of the labor force. The involuntary separations rate was unchanged from last month’s revised figure at 1.0 percent.
Construction employment sees gains
The first chart, below, shows the employment situation for the construction jobs market over the last 37 months. It shows that May saw a net gain of 25,000 construction jobs after two months of losses. Revisions to April’s results raised the construction jobs losses for that month by 5,000 jobs to 20,000 jobs.
Construction jobs openings in May were reported to be 366,000 jobs, 6.6 percent lower than the year-earlier level. On a month-over-month basis, openings for construction jobs were reported to rise by 19,000 openings from April’s revised (-36,000) job openings figure. Job openings in the construction category represent 4.4 percent of total employment plus job openings, down from the 4.6 percent level reported last month.
Hiring was reported to be up by 27,000 jobs in May from the prior month’s revised (+1,000) jobs figure at 379,000 new hires. The number of construction jobs that were filled in May was reported to be up 8.0 percent year-over-year.
Construction jobs total separations were reported to fall by 23,000 jobs from the prior month’s revised (+6,000) figure to 354,000 jobs. Quits were reported to rise by 57,000 jobs from April’s revised (+4,000) figure to a level of 227,000 jobs. Layoffs were reported to fall by 71,000 from April’s revised (+5,000) figure to 123,000 jobs. “Other separations” which includes retirements and transfers, were reported to be down 10,000 at 4,000 jobs. Quits represented 64 percent of separations for the month, up from the revised level of 45 percent reported for April.
RERL job openings higher
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 4,000 jobs in May.
The number of job openings in the RERL category was reported to be 127,000 jobs at the end of May. This was up 14,000 job openings from the revised (+11,000) level of the month before. Job openings in May were 17 percent lower than their year-earlier level. Job openings in the RERL category represent 5.0 percent of total employment plus job openings.
Hiring in May was down by 14,000 jobs from April’s revised (-3,000) level at 65,000 jobs. This hiring figure was 18.7 percent below the year-earlier level.
Total separations in the RERL jobs category in May were down by 10,000 from April’s revised (-3,000) figure at 61,000 jobs. Quits were down by 10,000 jobs from April’s revised (-3,000) figure at 44,000 jobs. Quits represented 72 percent of total separations in May, down from the revised level of 76 percent in April. Layoffs were reported to fall by 2,000 from April’s revised (-1,000) figure to 13,000 jobs.
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.
