The Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT) report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said that the number of total non-farm job openings in May rose to 7.77 million. However, job openings in both construction and real estate were lower than the figures reported last month.
Job openings rise but hiring falls
Job openings were reported to be up 374,000 openings month-over-month. In addition, the openings figure for April was revised higher by 4,000 openings, so the May openings figure is 378,000 higher than the initial level reported for April last month. However, job openings are down 132,000 openings from their year-ago level.
Hiring was reported to be down by 112,000 jobs from last month’s revised (+42,000) figure for the economy as a whole, falling to a level of 5.50 million hires. Total separations fell 71,000 from last month’s revised (+25,000) figure to a level of 5.24 million. Within total separations, quits were reported to rise 2.4 percent while layoffs fell 10.5 percent. Quits represented 62.8 percent of total separations for the month, somewhat above the trailing 12-month average of 61.7 percent.
The May job openings figure represents 4.6 percent of total employment plus job openings. For comparison, the unemployment rate in May was reported to be 4.24 percent and 7.24 million people were unemployed. Another 6.57 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 May JOLT report implies an employment increase of 261,000 jobs for the month. Last month’s employment increase was revised to 302,000 jobs, up by 17,000 jobs from the gain reported last month.
Of those leaving their jobs in May, 3.29 million quit voluntarily, while 1.60 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 rose 0.1 percentage point from last month’s figure to 2.1 percent of the labor force. The involuntary separations rate was down 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 employment lower on higher job churn
The next chart, below, shows the employment situation for the construction jobs market over the last 49 months. It shows that May saw a net loss of 7,000 construction jobs. Last month’s preliminary gain of 9,000 construction jobs was revised to a gain of 7,000 jobs. However, the JOLT data indicate that construction employment has fallen in 3 out of the last 4 months.
The preliminary job openings figure for May was reported to be up by 3,000 openings from last month’s revised (-6,000) figure at 245,000 openings. Openings were reported to be down 34.7 percent from last year’s level and were reported to represent 2.9 percent of construction employment plus job openings.
Hiring was reported to be down by 3,000 jobs in May from the prior month’s revised (+16,000) jobs figure at 361,000 new hires. Last month’s revised hiring figure is the highest number of new hires since May 2024. The number of construction jobs that were filled in May 2025 was reported to be down 7.4 percent year-over-year.
Construction jobs total separations were reported to be up by 11,000 jobs from the prior month’s revised (+18,000) figure at 368,000 jobs. This was also the highest figure since May 2024.
Quits were reported to rise by 21,000 jobs from April’s revised (+15,000) figure to a level of 183,000 jobs. Quits represented 45.7 percent of separations for the month, well below the figure for the economy as a whole.
Layoffs were reported to fall by 12,000 from last month’s revised (+4,000) figure to 168,000 jobs.
“Other separations” which includes retirements and transfers, were reported to be up 3,000 at 17,000 jobs.
RERL hiring rises as job openings fall
The last chart 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 5,000 jobs for the month.
The number of job openings in the RERL category was reported to fall to 102,000 jobs at the end of May. Other than July 2024, which came in at the same figure, this is the lowest level of RERL job openings since October 2021. The RERL job openings figure was 33,000 openings lower than the revised (+2,000) level reported for the month before. RERL job openings were down 6.4 percent from their year-ago level and represent 3.9 percent of total employment plus job openings, down 1.1 percentage points from the level in last month’s report.
Hiring in May was reported to be up by 4,000 jobs from last month’s unchanged figure at 77,000 jobs. The hiring figure was unchanged from the level of the year before.
Total separations in the RERL jobs category in May were up by 1,000 from April’s revised (+3,000) figure at 72,000 jobs.
Quits were reported to be unchanged from April’s revised (+2,000) figure at 41,000 jobs. Quits represented 56.9 percent of total separations. Layoffs were reported to be down 1,000 jobs from April’s revised (+4,000) figure at 27,000 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.
