Wednesday, January 4, 2023: U.S. BLS Reported Slight Decrease in Job Openings for November, Little Change in Hires & Total Separations
Heads-up for Recruiters and Talent Acquisition personnel
In November 2022, the number of nonfarm sector job openings decreased slightly to 10,458,000, compared to the revised figure of 10,512,000 in October (a decrease of 54,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) Report for November 2022. The rate did not change at 6.4 percent compared to the 6.4 percent in October (revised figure), but that was 0.9 percentage points lower than its peak in March 2022. Hires were 6.1 million, down a little from 6.0 million in October. Total separations went up slightly to 5.9 million compared to 5.8 million in October.
U.S. Department of Labor Chief Economist Joelle Gamble pointed out on Twitter that: “JOLTS is a smaller survey than [the Jobs Report]. There are almost always revisions to estimates as more data comes in. October openings were revised upward to 10.5 million & November’s decrease of 54K is based on the revised level.”
She posted the following chart to illustrate how job openings remain on a downward trend that began after the series peak in March 2022.
“The biggest declines were in accommodation and food services (-89K), finance and insurance (-75K) and health care and social assistance (-62K). Professional and business services saw a 212K increase in openings in November.” Economist Gamble reported.
Not Much Change in Number of Hires and Separations
The number of hires was 6,055,000 and the rate was 3.9 percent, which was little change from 6,111,000/4.0 percent in October. Hires increased in health care and social assistance (+74,000)
“There were also fewer new hires in November than in October,” Economist Gamble tweeted. “Though, health care and social assistance, notably, saw a 74K over the month increase in hires,” she pointed out.
Total separations changed little at 5,870,000 compared to October’s 5,756,000; the rate held steady at 3.8 percent. Within separations, the number – 4,173,000 – and rate -2.7 percent – of voluntary quits went down a smidge, compared to October’s 4,047,000 and 2.6 percent.
The number of layoffs and discharges was 1,350,000 million, down slightly from 1,445,000 in October. The rate did not change at 0.9 percent.
The number of other separations was 347,000 in November, compared to 347,000 in October. The rate held steady at 0.2 percent.
Three-Month Comparison Chart of Job Openings vs Jobs Filled
Our table below compares numbers from the JOLTS and Jobs (“Economic Situation”) Report from the last three months of available comparison data. The numbers reflect the revised figures, as opposed to the original report numbers.
*August Job Openings were 10,280,000
Note that the JOLTS Report for December 2022 is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.
Upcoming Changes
Effective with the release of the January 2023 JOLTS Report on March 8, 2023, the JOLTS estimates will be revised to incorporate the annual updates to the Current Employment Statistics employment data and the JOLTS seasonal adjustment factors, the BLS announced. Not seasonally adjusted data and seasonally adjusted data from January 2018 forward are subject to revision. In accordance with annual practice, additional historical data may be revised as a result of the benchmark process.
Also effective with the release of the January Report data (in March), JOLTS will begin publishing two new tables presenting annual average job openings levels and rates.
In addition, JOLTS will modify its method to calculate annual estimates for hires and separations rates. Annual rates will be computed as annual averages, instead of as annual totals, to make the estimates more helpful for data users and to be consistent with other BLS programs.
JOLTS will also introduce several changes to the monthly news release tables beginning with the news release for January data. Two tables displaying JOLTS data by size class will be added to the news release: one for seasonally adjusted estimates and the other for not seasonally adjusted estimates. JOLTS will also introduce over-the-month change columns for levels and rates to tables 1 through 6.
NAICS System Update
Also effective with the January report data (scheduled for release in March), JOLTS will adopt the 2022 version of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which has a minimal impact on the published JOLTS data series, the BLS stated.
Economist Gamble explained further in a Twitter thread:
“The goal of NAICS 2022 is to modify or create industry categories that reflect new, emerging, or changing activities and technologies. About 10 percent of employment in the payroll survey will be reclassified into different industries because of the NAICS 2022 update.
The update will mean major revisions to the retail trade and information sector content and coding but minor revisions to mining & logging, manufacturing, wholesale trade, financial activities, and other services – which is a sector title[,] not a catch-all term.
Prior to NAICS 2022, the last NAICS update was released in February 2018 (NAICS 2017). Reviews of NAICS are scheduled to happen every 5 years. You can learn more about the NAICS 2022 implementation schedule, across BLS releases, here: https://bls.gov/bls/naics-implementation-schedule.htm”