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Economy in Brief
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U.S. Industrial Production Rebounded in March
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U.S. Home Builder Index Edges Higher in April
The NAHB-Wells Fargo Composite Housing Market Index rose 1.2% to 83 during April...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller April 6, 2021
• Number of openings and hiring strengthens.
• Layoffs & quits rise slightly.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that on the last business day of February, the total job openings rate strengthened to a record 4.9% from 4.7% in January, revised from 4.6%. The openings rate is calculated as job openings as a percent of total employment plus jobs that have not yet been filled. The hiring rate improved to 4.0% following two months at a depressed 3.8%. The overall layoff & discharge rate held steady at 1.2%. The quits rate rose also was unchanged at 2.3% and has been moving sideways since July. The JOLTS figures date back to December 2000.
The private-sector job openings rate jumped to a record 5.2% from 5.0%. The professional & business services rate eased to 6.3% but the leisure & hospitality rate rose sharply, also to 6.3%. The education & health services rate also jumped to a record 6.3%. The government sector job openings rate fell to 2.9%, the lowest reading in nine months. The private sector job openings level rose 5.5% (7.9% y/y) to 6.732 million.
In February, the private sector hiring rate rose to 4.5%, but remained well below the record 7.2% in May of last year. The leisure & hospitality rate jumped to 8.6%. The professional & business service sector edged higher to 5.3% while the factory sector hiring rate rose to 3.2%.The government sector hiring rate fell to 1.4%, down from a 2.6% high in August. The level of private sector hiring rose 6.7% (-2.6% y/y) to 5.446 million.
Data on job separations reflect a combination of layoffs and quits. The separations rate of 3.8% in February compared to the record 10.8% in March of last year. The level of separations declined 4.5% y/y. Private sector separations fell 4.8% y/y and the private separations rate edged higher to 4.2%, while government's rose to 1.6%.
The layoff & discharge rate in the private sector edged higher to 1.4% but remained near the record low. The professional & business services layoff & discharge rate rose to 2.1% and was down from an all-time high of 6.3% in April. The 3.4% rate in construction compared to 0.7% in manufacturing. The higher 1.0% rate in the information sector remained below the record 6.8% in March. It compared to a slightly higher 0.6% in finance. The rate held at 0.4% in government.
The steady quits rate of 2.6% in the private sector remained up from 1.8% in May. It compared to 0.9% in government. In the leisure & hospitality sector, the quits rate slipped to 4.6%. The quits rate in professional & business services held steady at 2.8% for the third straight month. In manufacturing, the job quits rate was steady m/m at 2.1% and remained up from 1.0% in April of last year. In finance, the quits rate eased to 1.6%. The level of job quits in the private sector fell 2.3% y/y. In government, the level of quits rose 2.1% y/y.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) are available in Haver's USECON database.
JOLTS (Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey, SA) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb'20 | Feb'19 | Feb'18 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rate (%) | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
Total (000s) | 7,367 | 7,099 | 6,752 | 7,012 | 7,058 | 6,586 |
Hires, Total | ||||||
Rate (%) | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.8 |
Total (000s) | 5,738 | 5,465 | 5,411 | 5,979 | 5,668 | 5,633 |
Layoffs & Discharges, Total | ||||||
Rate (%) | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
Total (000s) | 1,775 | 1,724 | 1,823 | 1,953 | 1,769 | 1,758 |
Quits, Total | ||||||
Rate (%) | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.2 |
Total (000s) | 3,357 | 3,306 | 3,407 | 3,430 | 3,543 | 3,200 |