U.S. Job Openings Edged Up in December
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Openings increased 101k to 9.026 million with upward revision to November.
- Hires increased 1.2% after declines in both October and November.
- Quits fell for the fourth consecutive month while layoffs rose.
Job openings edged up 1.1% m/m (-19.7% y/y) to 9.026 million in December after an upwardly revised 0.8% monthly gain to 8.925 million in November according to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. In general, job openings have been trending down since early 2022, reflecting ongoing, though gradual, softening in the labor market, and are currently well below the recent peak of 12.027 million reached in March 2022. However, there is still a sizable excess of openings over the number unemployed. In December this excess increased to 2.758 million from 2.663 million in November and 2.409 million in October. The job openings rate was unchanged at 5.4%. This rate is calculated as the ratio of job openings to total nonfarm employment plus openings.
Private sector openings increased 1.3% m/m to 8.010 million in December, their highest level since September. The private job openings rate was unchanged at 5.6% in December. A 16.1% monthly increase in openings in professional and business services led the December rise, aided by an 8.7% m/m increase in manufacturing openings. Construction openings fell 4.5% m/m; trade, transportation and utilities openings declined 4.8% m/m; and leisure and hospitality openings slumped 11.6% m/m. Government job opening edged up 0.2% m/m, their third consecutive monthly gain.
Total hiring increased 1.2% m/m (-10.1% y/y), the first monthly increase in three months, to 5.621 million. The hiring rate edged up to 3.6% from a post-pandemic low of 3.5% in November. Private sector hiring rose 0.3% m/m (-10.3% y/y) following monthly declines in both October and November. Gains were widespread across the major sectors but offset by a 12.5% m/m decline in hiring in education and health services. Government hiring jumped up 13.5% m/m (-6.6% y/y) in December due mostly to an increase in state and local government hiring.
Total separation edged down 0.7% m/m (-9.2% y/y) in December to 5.365 million following a 4.1% monthly decline in November. The separation rate was unchanged at 3.4%, the lowest since September 2016. The overall decline reflected a 3.7% m/m decline in quits, a 5.6% m/m increase in layoffs and a 3.5% m/m gain in other separations. Quits are voluntary separations initiated by the employee and are often viewed as an indicator of workers’ willingness to leave jobs for other opportunities. Private quits are currently on a clear downtrend, pointing to a softening of labor-market conditions.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data are available in Haver’s USECON database.
Sandy Batten
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Sandy Batten has more than 30 years of experience analyzing industrial economies and financial markets and a wide range of experience across the financial services sector, government, and academia. Before joining Haver Analytics, Sandy was a Vice President and Senior Economist at Citibank; Senior Credit Market Analyst at CDC Investment Management, Managing Director at Bear Stearns, and Executive Director at JPMorgan. In 2008, Sandy was named the most accurate US forecaster by the National Association for Business Economics. He is a member of the New York Forecasters Club, NABE, and the American Economic Association. Prior to his time in the financial services sector, Sandy was a Research Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Senior Staff Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the US Treasury, and Economist at the International Monetary Fund. Sandy has taught economics at St. Louis University, Denison University, and Muskingun College. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in a wide range of academic publications. He has a B.A. in economics from the University of Richmond and a M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from The Ohio State University.
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