Job openings little changed at 5.0 million in January; hires and separations up in 2014
Omaha Steve has the thread over in LBN: US job openings reach a 14-year high, and more workers quit
Job openings little changed at 5.0 million in January; hires and separations up in 2014
Economic News Release
Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary
For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, March 10, 2015 USDL-15-0385
Technical information: (202) 691-5870 JoltsInfo@bls.gov www.bls.gov/jlt
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 PressOffice@bls.gov
JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER JANUARY 2015
There were 5.0 million job openings on the last business day of January, little changed from 4.9 million in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires decreased to 5.0 million in January and separations were little changed at 4.8 million. Within separations, the quits rate was little changed at 2.0 percent and the layoffs and discharges rate was unchanged at 1.2 percent. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by industry and by four geographic regions. The release also includes 2014 annual estimates for hires and separations. The annual number of hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations increased in 2014.
Job Openings
There were 5.0 million job openings on the last business day of January, little changed from December. This was the highest level of job openings since January 2001. The job openings rate for January was 3.4 percent. The number of job openings was little changed for total private and government in January. Job openings increased for accommodation and food services and in the West region. (See table 1.)
Job Openings Rise to the Highest Level in 14 Years
10:35 am ET
Mar 10, 2015
Economy
By Josh Zumbrun
Employers across the U.S. had 5 million job openings at the end of January, the most since January 2001, providing further hope that the labor market is on the mend.
Openings have been rising across a range of industries, according to the Labor Departments Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as Jolts. Professional and business services, health care and accommodation and food services have seen openings rise; mining and logging, which includes the beleaguered U.S. oil industry, has seen openings decline.
The level of hiring declined slightly in January, falling to 5 million from 5.2 million in December. The total number of people leaving their job declined slightly, tooseparations fell to 4.8 million from 4.9 million.
The Labor Departments main jobs report shows the net change in jobsa gain of 295,000 in Februarybut the Jolts report digs one level deeper, cataloging the millions of workers each month who quit a job or are laid off, retire, start a new job or switch jobs.