The Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said that the number of job openings in September was 7.44 million. This was reported to be down 418,000 openings month-over-month. In addition, the openings figure for August was revised lower by 179,000 openings, so the September openings figure is 597,000 lower than the initial level reported for August last month. Job openings are down 1,318,000 openings from the year-ago level.
Hiring was reported to be up from last month’s revised (+118,000) figure for the economy as a whole, rising 123,000 to a level of 5.56 million hires. Total separations rose 28,000 from last month’s revised (+171,000) figure to a level of 5.20 million. Within total separations, quits were reported to fall 3.4 percent while layoffs grew 9.9 percent. Quits represented 59.1 percent of total separations for the month.
Overall employment growth rises
The September job openings figure represents 4.5 percent of total employment plus job openings. For comparison, the unemployment rate in September was reported to be 4.1 percent and 6.83 million people were unemployed. Another 5.70 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 September JOLT report implies an employment increase of 362,000 jobs for the month. Last month’s employment increase was revised to 267,000 jobs, down by 53,000 jobs from the gain reported last month.
Of those leaving their jobs in September, 3.07 million quit voluntarily, while 1.83 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 1.9 percent of the labor force. The involuntary separations rate was up from last month’s figure at 1.2 percent.
Total non-farm JOLT data since January 2016 is shown in the first chart, below.
Construction job openings down
The next chart, below, shows the employment situation for the construction jobs market over the last 49 months. It shows that September saw a net gain of 24,000 construction jobs, down from last month’s revised gain of 35,000 jobs.
The preliminary job openings figure for September was reported to be down by 40,000 openings from last month’s revised (-42,000) figure at 288,000 openings. Openings were reported to be down 31.8 percent from last year’s level and were reported to represent 3.4 percent of construction employment plus job openings.
Hiring was reported to be down by 12,000 jobs in September from the prior month’s revised (+10,000) jobs figure at 336,000 new hires. The number of construction jobs that were filled in September was reported to be up 28.0 percent from the low level recorded in September 2023.
Construction jobs total separations were reported to fall by 1,000 jobs from the prior month’s revised (+3,000) figure to 312,000 jobs.
Quits were reported to fall by 11,000 jobs from August’s revised (-4,000) figure to a level of 120,000 jobs. Quits represented 38.5 percent of separations for the month.
Layoffs were reported to rise by 9,000 from August’s revised (+5,000) figure to 178,000 jobs. “Other separations” which includes retirements and transfers, were reported to be up 2,000 at 14,000 jobs.
RERL employment lower as quits rise
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 down 4,000 jobs for the month.
The number of job openings in the RERL category was reported to be 118,000 jobs at the end of September. This was up 9,000 job openings from the revised (-11,000) level reported for the month before. RERL job openings are down 62 percent from the unusually high figure recorded one year ago. Job openings in the RERL category represent 4.5 percent of total employment plus job openings.
Hiring in September was reported to be up by 1,000 jobs from August’s revised (+3,000) figure at 67,000 jobs. The hiring figure was down 15.0 percent from the level of the year before.
Total separations in the RERL jobs category in September were up by 9,000 from August’s revised (+3,000) figure at 71,000 jobs.
Quits were up by 18,000 from August’s unchanged figure at 39,000 jobs. Quits represented only 54.9 percent of total separations. Layoffs were reported to fall by 10,000 from August’s revised (+5,000) figure to 28,000 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.
