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Economy in Brief
U.S. Wholesale Inventories Post Strong February Gain; Sales Fall
Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% (2.0% y/y) during February...
U.S. Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims Unexpectedly Increase
Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 744,000 during the week ended April 3...
Total PMIs Gain Traction in March
The PMI readings for March show improvement again...
U.S. Consumer Credit Outstanding Bounces Back in February
Consumer credit outstanding surged $27.6 billion during February...
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to Record during February
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $71.1 during February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller January 13, 2015
The job openings rate during November increased to 3.4% and matched the highest level since April 2001. The job openings rate is the number of job openings on the last business day of the month as a percent of total employment plus job openings. The actual number of job openings surged 20.5% y/y to 4.972 million. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports these figures in its Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).
The private-sector job openings rate gained to 3.7%, its highest level since February 2001 and up from the recession low of 1.7%. The rate in professional & business services jumped to 5.1% and in retail trade it increased to 3.2%. The rate in trade, transportation & utilities rose to 3.2%, up from the recession low of 1.2%. To the downside m/m but still firm, the rate in leisure & hospitality fell slightly to 4.1% and in health care & social services it ticked lower to 3.9%. The rate in the factory sector recovered to 2.5%, the highest level since 2012. The construction rate was steady at 2.3%. The job openings rate in the government sector improved to 2.1%, up from the 2009 low of 1.1%.
The hires rate slipped to 3.6% from the expansion high of 3.7%. The hires rate is the number of hires during the month divided by employment. The private sector hires rate slipped to 4.0% but was still near the recovery high. Amongst leisure & hospitality firms the rate held at 6.1%. The rate in professional & business services declined to 5.1% and in construction it fell to 5.0%. The hiring rate in education remained at a still high 2.7% but in the factory sector it fell to 2.1%, near the middle of the last year's range. In the government sector the hiring rate held at a low 1.4%.
The number of hires fell 2.2% m/m but increased 9.1% y/y. Private sector hires increased 9.4% y/y, nearly the strongest gain since early 2004. Leisure hospitality hiring jumped 14.4% y/y while health care & social services employment advanced 13.2% y/y. Retail trade jobs grew 12.1% y/y and professional & business services hiring increased 5.1% y/y. Construction sector employment increased 3.0% y/y but factory sector jobs declined 3.7% y/y. Government hiring rose 5.2% y/y.
The job separations rate fell back to 3.3% but the actual number of separations increased 7.1% y/y. Separations include quits, layoffs, discharges, and other separations as well as retirements. The private sector separations rate slipped to 3.7% while the government sector's rate notched lower to 1.3%. The layoff & discharge rate fell to 1.2%, near the record low. The private sector layoff rate declined m/m to 1.3% and the government's rate edged up to 0.5%.
The JOLTS survey dates to December 2000 and the figures are available in Haver's USECON database.
JOLTS (Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey, SA) | Nov | Oct | Sep | Nov '13 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Job Openings, Total | |||||||
Rate (%) | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 2.9 (y/y) | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.5 |
Total (000s) | 4,972 | 4,830 | 4,685 | 20.5% | 7.4% | 3.1% | 22.4% |
Hires, Total | |||||||
Rate (%) | 3.6 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.3 (y/y) | 39.6 | 38.8 | 38.1 |
Total (000s) | 4,990 | 5,101 | 5,075 | 9.1% | 3.3% | 4.2% | 3.0% |
Layoffs & Discharges, Total | |||||||
Rate (%) | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.1 (y/y) | 14.6 | 15.5 | 15.7 |
Total (000s) | 1,612 | 1,757 | 1,653 | 6.7% | -4.6% | 1.2% | -4.8% |