U.S. JOLTS: Job Openings Rebound in August
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Openings rise following three straight months of decline.
- Hires rise slightly after falling for two months.
- Quits rise slightly while layoffs ease.
The U.S. labor market improved during August. The number of job openings increased 7.7% (-5.8% y/y) to 9.61 million, following a 2.7% July decline, revised from -3.7%, according to the Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The job openings rate rose to 5.8%, from an upwardly revised 5.4% in July. This was the highest rate in three months, but still below the 7.4% high in in March 2022. This rate is job openings as a percent of total nonfarm employment plus openings.
The excess of openings over the number unemployed rose to 3.255 million in August, its highest level in three months, from 3.079 million in July. This figure remained in a downtrend, however, indicating a general weakening in the labor market.
Private sector openings rose 7.5% (-6.8% y/y) to 8.558 million after three straight months of decline. The August rise was led by a 35.5% increase (3.4% y/y) in professional and business services and an 18.1% rise (7.9% y/y) in financial activities employment. Openings also rose 13.2% (-26.0% y/y) in the manufacturing sector, but the number of leisure & hospitality job openings fell 4.4% (-16.2% y/y) and information employment jobs fell 7.9% (+3.1% y/y). Government sector openings rose 9.4% (3.2% y/y).
Total hiring rose to 5.857 million, up 0.6% in August (-9.6% y/y), following two months of decline. Private sector hiring improved 0.6% (-9.3% y/y) in August to 5.499 million from 5.464 million in July. This was the first increase in three months and followed 1.6% and 4.7% declines in the prior two months. New hiring had been on a downtrend since February of last year. The private sector hiring rate held steady at 4.1% in August and in the government sector, it was unchanged at 1.6%. Hiring improved 0.3% (-14.1% y/y) in the government sector.
Total separations rose 0.7% (-9.1% y/y) in August following a 0.9% July decline and a 3.9% June drop. This reflected a 0.5% rise (-14.2% y/y) in quits and a 0.1% easing (+3.3% y/y) in layoffs. The total separations rate held at 3.6% in August for the fourth month in the five and was the lowest reading since August 2020.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data are available in Haver’s USECON database.
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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