The Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said that the number of job openings in August was 8.04 million. This was reported to be up 329,000 openings month-over-month. In addition, the openings figure for July was revised higher by 38,000 openings, so the August openings figure is 367,000 higher than the initial level reported for July last month. However, job openings are down 1,318,000 openings from the year-ago level.
Hiring was reported to be down from last month’s revised (-105,000) figure for the economy as a whole, falling 99,000 to a level of 5.32 million hires. Total separations fell 317,000 from last month’s revised (-106,000) figure to a level of 5.00 million. Within total separations, quits were reported to fall 4.9 percent while layoffs fell 6.1 percent. Quits represented 61.7 percent of total separations for the month.
Overall employment growth accelerates
The August job openings figure represents 4.8 percent of total employment plus job openings. For comparison, the unemployment rate in August was reported to be 4.2 percent and 7.12 million people were unemployed. Another 5.64 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.
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 excess of hiring over separations in the August JOLT report implies an employment increase of 320,000 jobs for the month. This is the highest level since last December. Last month’s employment increase was revised to 102,000 jobs, up by 1,000 jobs from the gain reported last month.
Of those leaving their jobs in August, 3.08 million quit voluntarily, while 1.61 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 1.9 percent of the labor force. The involuntary separations rate was up slightly from last month’s figure at 1.0 percent.
Total non-farm JOLT data since January 2016 is shown in the first chart, below.
Construction job openings jump higher
The next chart, below, shows the employment situation for the construction jobs market over the last 49 months. It shows that August saw a net gain of 28,000 construction jobs down from last month’s revised gain of 38,000 jobs.
The preliminary job openings figure for August was reported to be up by 138,000 openings from last month’s revised (-16,000) figure at 370,000 openings. Openings were reported to be down 4.2 percent from last year’s level and were reported to represent 4.3 percent of construction employment plus job openings.
Hiring was reported to be down by 21,000 jobs in August from the prior month’s revised (-12,000) jobs figure at 338,000 new hires. The number of construction jobs that were filled in August was reported to be down 36.0 percent year-over-year.
Construction jobs total separations were reported to fall by 11,000 jobs from the prior month’s revised (-7,000) figure to 310,000 jobs.
Quits were reported to fall by 2,000 jobs from July’s revised (+2,000) figure to a level of 135,000 jobs. Quits represented 43.5 percent of separations for the month, up by 0.8 percentage points from the revised level of last month.
Layoffs were reported to fall by 11,000 from July’s revised (-9,000) figure to 164,000 jobs. “Other separations” which includes retirements and transfers, were reported to be up 2,000 at 11,000 jobs.
RERL job openings fall 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 be up 4,000 jobs for the month.
The number of job openings in the RERL category was reported to be 120,000 jobs at the end of August. This was down 11,000 job openings from the unchanged level reported for the month before. RERL job openings are down 14.3 percent year-over-year. Job openings in the RERL category represent 4.6 percent of total employment plus job openings.
Hiring in August was reported to be down by 7,000 jobs from July’s revised (-2,000) figure at 63,000 jobs. The hiring figure was down 8.0 percent from the level of the year before.
Total separations in the RERL jobs category in August were down by 9,000 from July’s revised (-1,000) figure at 59,000 jobs.
Quits were down by 15,000 from July’s revised (-2,000) figure at 21,000 jobs. Quits represented only 35.6 percent of total separations in August, the lowest share since the COVID lockdowns in the spring of 2020. Layoffs were reported to rise by 7,000 from July’s revised (+1,000) figure to 33,000 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.
