The Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said that the number of job openings in March was 8.49 million. This was reported to be down 325,000 openings month-over-month. However, the openings figure for February was revised higher by 57,000 openings, accentuating the decline. Job openings were down 1,135,000 openings from the year-ago level.
Hiring was also down from last month’s revised (-37,000) figure for the economy as a whole, falling 281,000 to a level of 5.50 million hires. Total separations fell 339,000 from last month’s revised (-20,000) figure to a level of 5.20 million. Within total separations, quits were reported to fall 5.6 percent while layoffs fell 9.2 percent. Quits represented 64.0 percent of total separations for the month.
Overall job openings continue slow decline
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. Total non-farm JOLT data since January 2016 is shown in the first chart, below.
The March job openings figure represents 5.1 percent of total employment plus job openings. For comparison, the unemployment rate in March was reported to be 3.8 percent and 6.43 million people were unemployed. Another 5.44 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 March JOLT report implies an employment increase of 300,000 jobs for the month. Last month’s employment increase was revised to 242,000 jobs, down by 7,000 jobs from the gain reported last month.
Of those leaving their jobs in March, 3.33 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 0.1 percentage point from last month’s figure at 2.1 percent of the labor force. The involuntary separations rate was also down 0.1 percentage point from last month’s figure at 1.0 percent.
Construction job openings in steep drop
The next chart, below, shows the employment situation for the construction jobs market over the last 49 months. It shows that March saw a net gain of 15,000 construction jobs compared to last month’s revised gain of 30,000 jobs.
After nearly reaching a new high last month, openings for construction jobs were reported to fall by 182,000 from February’s revised (+15,000) job openings figure. Construction jobs openings in March were reported to be 274,000 jobs, 5.8 percent lower than last year’s level. Job openings in the construction category represent 3.2 percent of total employment plus job openings, down sharply from the 5.1 percent level reported last month.
Hiring was reported to be down by 59,000 jobs in March from the prior month’s revised (-3,000) jobs figure at 341,000 new hires. The number of construction jobs that were filled in March was reported to be down 17.6 percent year-over-year.
Construction jobs total separations were reported to fall by 44,000 jobs from the prior month’s revised (-5,000) figure to 326,000 jobs.
Quits were reported to be rise by 5,000 jobs from February’s unchanged figure to a level of 157,000 jobs. Quits represented 48.2 percent of separations for the month, up by 7.1 percentage points from the revised level of last month but still well below the level for the economy as a whole.
Layoffs were reported to fall by 63,000 from February’s revised (-6,000) figure to 145,000 jobs. “Other separations” which includes retirements and transfers, were reported to be up 14,000 at 24,000 jobs.
RERL job openings rate remains high
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 7,000 jobs in March.
The number of job openings in the RERL category was reported to be 176,000 jobs at the end of March. This was up 14,000 job openings from the revised (-4,000) level of the month before. RERL job openings in March were 26.6 percent higher than the year-earlier level. Job openings in the RERL category represent 6.6 percent of total employment plus job openings, one of the highest rates of job openings of the job categories for which the BLS reports data.
Hiring in March was down 5,000 jobs from February’s revised (-1,000) figure at 74,000 jobs. The hiring figure was 3.9 percent below the year-earlier level.
Total separations in the RERL jobs category in March were down by 11,000 from February’s unchanged figure at 67,000 jobs.
Quits were down by 10,000 from February’s revised (-3,000) figure at 36,000 jobs. Quits represented 53.7 percent of total separations in March. Layoffs were reported to rise by 1,000 from February’s unchanged figure to 23,000 jobs.
The numbers given in the JOLT report are seasonally adjusted and are subject to revision. It is common for 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.
