Global| Sep 11 2018U.S. JOLTS: Job Openings Rate Hits A Record Level
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate during July held steady m/m at a record 4.4%. It remained higher than the 4.1% rate twelve months earlier. (The job openings rate is the job openings level as a [...]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate during July held steady m/m at a record 4.4%. It remained higher than the 4.1% rate twelve months earlier. (The job openings rate is the job openings level as a percent of total employment plus the job openings level.) The hiring rate held at 3.8%, which was slightly below the eleven-year high of 3.9% in May. The JOLTS data begin in 2000.
The private-sector job openings rate held at a record 4.7% in July. The rate in leisure & hospitality increased to 5.8% and in professional & business services, it rose to 5.4%. In education & health services, the rate eased to 5.0% while in trade, transportation & utilities it slipped to 4.5%. The rate in manufacturing rose to 3.8% but held steady in construction at 3.6%. In government, the job openings rate eased to 2.7%, but remained up from the 1.2% low in 2009.
The level of job openings increased 1.7% (11.9% y/y) following a 2.4% June gain. Private-sector openings rose 2.2% (11.3% y/y) to 6.316 million. Job openings in the factory sector rose 29.4% y/y and increased 7.1% y/y in construction. In trade, transportation & utilities, openings rose 14.0% y/y and in leisure & hospitality, openings gained 21.1% y/y. Openings in education & health services increased 7.9% y/y and in professional & business services, they rose 11.7% y/y. Government sector job openings increased 17.8% y/y.
The private-sector hiring rate in July held m/m at 4.2%, down from its eleven-year high of 4.3% reached in May. The rate rose in leisure & hospitality to 6.5%. In professional & business services, it held steady at 5.5% and in construction, it rose to 5.2%. In education & health services, the rate eased to 2.9%. The hiring rate in trade, transportation & utilities rose to 4.1% and in manufacturing, to 3.1%. The hiring rate in government slipped to 1.5%.
Total hiring rose a lessened 3.3% y/y in July. Hiring in the private sector increased 3.4% y/y as factory sector hiring strengthened 15.9% y/y and construction sector employment increased 6.2% y/y. Showing lesser improvement was educational & health services jobs (3.6% y/y) and leisure & hospitality hiring which posted a 3.3% y/y rise. Professional & business employment fell 3.8% y/y.
The overall job separations rate remained at 3.7% in July. It was steady at 4.1% in the private sector and equaled the expansion high. The level of overall separations increased a lessened 2.4% y/y. They rose 16.5% y/y in financial activities, just 4.2% y/y in manufacturing and 3.9% in leisure & hospitality. Job separations fell 6.5% y/y in professional & business services and 5.7% y/y in construction.
The level of layoffs declined 11.9% y/y, keeping the 1.1% layoff rate down from a 2015 high of 1.4%. In the private sector, the layoff rate was steady at 1.2%, but it was only 0.9% in manufacturing and 0.7% in financial activities. The government sector layoff rate remained low at 0.4%.
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) | Jul | Jun | May | Jul'17 | Jul'16 | Jul'15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job Openings, Total | ||||||
| Rate (%) | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.5 |
| Total (000s) | 6,939 | 6,822 | 6,659 | 6,202 | 5,982 | 5,863 |
| Hires, Total | ||||||
| Rate (%) | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
| Total (000s) | 5,679 | 5,677 | 5,747 | 5,498 | 5,324 | 5,111 |
| Layoffs & Discharges, Total | ||||||
| Rate (%) | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.2 |
| Total (000s) | 1,602 | 1,652 | 1,618 | 1,816 | 1,600 | 1,662 |
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.
More Economy in Brief
