The Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said that the number of job openings in June was 9.58 million, down 34,000 openings month-over-month. In addition, last month’s job openings figure was revised downward by 208,000 jobs. Job openings were down 1.38 million from the year-ago level.
Hiring was down from last month’s revised figure for the economy as a whole, falling 326,000 to a level of 5.90 million hires. Total separations fell 288,000 to a level of 5.64 million, although May’s separations total was revised upward by 101,000. Within total separations, quits fell 7.3 percent while layoffs fell 1.2 percent. Quits represented 66.9 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 June job openings figure represents 5.8 percent of total employment plus job openings. For comparison, the unemployment rate in June was reported to be 3.6 percent and 6.0 million people were unemployed. Another 5.4 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 June JOLT report implies an employment increase of 268,000 jobs for the month. Last month’s employment increase was revised to 306,000 jobs, down by 31,000 jobs from the gain reported last month.
Of those leaving their jobs in June, 3.77 million quit voluntarily, while 1.53 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 down from last month’s figure at 2.4 percent of the labor force. The involuntary separations rate was unchanged from last month’s 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 June saw a net gain of 41,000 construction jobs. However, revisions to May’s results lowered the construction jobs gains for that month by 5,000 jobs to 20,000 jobs.
Construction jobs openings in June were reported to be 374,000 jobs, 2.4 percent lower than the year-earlier level. On a month-over-month basis, openings for construction jobs were reported to rise by 5,000 openings from May’s revised (+13,000) job openings figure. Job openings in the construction category represent 4.5 percent of total employment plus job openings, up from the 4.4 percent level reported last month.
Hiring was reported to be down by 15,000 jobs in June from the prior month’s revised (-18,000) jobs figure at 346,000 new hires. The number of construction jobs that were filled in June was reported to be down 4.2 percent year-over-year.
Construction jobs total separations were reported to fall by 36,000 jobs from the prior month’s revised (-13,000) figure to 305,000 jobs. Quits were reported to fall by 51,000 jobs from May’s revised (-20,000) figure to a level of 156,000 jobs. Layoffs were reported to rise by 13,000 from May’s revised (+4,000) figure to 140,000 jobs. “Other separations” which includes retirements and transfers, were reported to be down 2,000 at 9,000 jobs. Quits represented 51 percent of separations for the month, down from the revised level of 61 percent reported for May.
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 12,000 jobs in June.
Note that revisions to last month’s data for the RERL jobs category in this month’s report were unusually large.
The number of job openings in the RERL category was reported to be 129,000 jobs at the end of June. This was up 5,000 job openings from the revised (+22,000) level of the month before. Job openings in June were 5.2 percent lower than their year-earlier level. Job openings in the RERL category represent 5.1 percent of total employment plus job openings.
Hiring in June was up by 10,000 jobs from May’s revised (-20,000) level at 72,000 jobs. The hiring figure was 16 percent above the year-earlier level.
Total separations in the RERL jobs category in June were up by 2,000 from May’s revised (-16,000) figure at 60,000 jobs. Quits were up by 7,000 jobs from May’s revised (-16,000) figure at 48,000 jobs. Quits represented 80 percent of total separations in June, up from the revised level of 71 percent in May. Layoffs were reported to fall by 3,000 from May’s revised (-3,000) figure to 10,000 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.
