Tuesday, January 30, 2024: JOLTS Report – Job Openings Increased by 101k in December, Rate Unchanged at 5.4%
Does anybody now think the Federal Reserve will reduce interest rates to the central banks in March with employee compensation rising at over 4% per year and hires increasing dramatically in number? The number of job openings in December was 9,026,000 – an increase of 101,000 from November’s adjusted figure of 8,925,000 – the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) Report for December 2023. The job openings rate remained steady at 5.4 percent. Even a noticeable increase in the number of layoffs did not diminish employers’ appetite to fill thousands of new jobs.
In December, job openings increased in professional and business services (+239,000) but decreased in wholesale trade (-83,000).
Hires, Layoffs/Discharges & Other Separations Up; Total Separations & Quits Down
The number of hires in December was 5,621,000 compared to the adjusted 5,554,000 number for November (+67,000). The rate increased slightly to 3.6 percent, compared to the adjusted 3.5 percent rate in November. The number of hires decreased in health care and social assistance (-119,000) but increased in state and local government, excluding education (+35,000).
Total separations were 5,365,000 for December, compared to 5,401,000 for November (-36,000). The December rate was unchanged at 3.4 percent. Over the month, the number of total separations decreased in health care and social assistance (-91,000) but increased in wholesale trade (+39,000).
Within separations, quits in December were 3,392,000 down from 3,524,000 in November (-132,000). The December rate was unchanged at 2.2 percent. The number of quits decreased in health care and social assistance (-71,000) and in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-35,000). The number of quits increased in wholesale trade (+63,000).
Layoffs and discharges in December were 1,616,000, up from 1,531,000 in November (+85,000). The December rate was 1.0 percent for the fourth month in a row. The number of layoffs and discharges increased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+43,000) and in state and local government, excluding education (+18,000). The number of other separations was 358,000 in December, up from 346,000 in November (+12,000). The percentage rate held steady at 0.2.
BLS posted interactive graphs here.
Three-Month Comparison Chart of Job Openings vs. Jobs Filled
Our below table reports the number of available jobs (as taken from the revised JOLTS reports) from the last four months of available data, as revised.
*August Job Openings were 9,497,000
Note: BLS is scheduled to release the JOLTS Report for January 2024 on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.