Global| Apr 13 2018U.S. JOLTS: Job Openings, Hires and Layoffs Ease
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate declined to 3.9% in February. January's 4.0% rate was revised down from the record 4.1% reported last month. (The job openings rate is the job openings level as [...]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate declined to 3.9% in February. January's 4.0% rate was revised down from the record 4.1% reported last month. (The job openings rate is the job openings level as a percent of total employment plus the job openings level.) The hiring rate also slipped to 3.7% from its expansion high of 3.8%. The layoff rate eased and returned to the record low of 1.1%.
The private sector job openings rate fell m/m to 4.2%, but remained up from December's 3.9% low. The rate fell sharply in construction (2.7%) and leisure hospitality (4.6%), but was little-changed elsewhere; manufacturing (3.3%), trade, transportation & utilities (4.0%), professional & business services (4.5%) and education & health (4.8%). The job openings rate in the government sector strengthened to 2.5%, its highest point since July 2016.
The level of job openings eased moderately m/m, but remained up 7.7% y/y. Private sector openings declined 3.5% (+7.0% y/y) to 5.5 million. Openings in trade and transportation & utilities rose 23.6% y/y and factory sector openings increased 21.0% y/y. Elsewhere, job openings declined by 1.9% y/y in leisure & hospitality and by 4.5% in education & health services. Openings in government increased 15.0% y/y.
The private sector hiring rate eased to 4.1% from 4.2% in January. Construction (5.0%), manufacturing (3.0%), trade, transportation & utilities (3.9%) and professional, leisure & hospitality (6.3%) & business services (5.6%) each remained firm. The hires rate in business & professional services fell to 5.6%. The government sector hiring rate held steady at 1.5%.
Hiring in the private sector increased 5.0% y/y led by a 27.9% y/y jump in factory sector hiring. Professional & business services hiring gained 12.4% y/y while education & health services hiring rose 3.2% y/y. Hiring in leisure & hospitality increased 3.3% y/y, but it fell 1.4% y/y in the construction sector.
The overall job separations rate declined to 3.5%, its lowest level since April 2017. It eased to 3.9% in the private sector and was steady at 1.5% in government. The level of overall separations rose 3.2 y/y.
The level of layoffs eased 0.6% y/y leaving the layoff rate at 1.1%. It was 1.2% in the private sector and 0.5% in the public sector.
The Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) survey dates to December 2000 and the figures are available in Haver's USECON database.
| JOLTS (Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey, SA) | Feb | Jan | Dec | Feb'17 | Feb '16 | Feb'15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job Openings, Total | ||||||
| Rate (%) | 3.9 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.5 |
| Total (000s) | 6,052 | 6,228 | 5,667 | 5,618 | 5,600 | 5,160 |
| Hires, Total | ||||||
| Rate (%) | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 3.6 |
| Total (000s) | 5,507 | 5,574 | 5,524 | 5,264 | 5,473 | 5,028 |
| Layoffs & Discharges, Total | ||||||
| Rate (%) | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.3x | 1.2 |
| Total (000s) | 1,647 | 1,784 | 1,655 | 1,657 | 1,859 | 1,685 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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