For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, April 11, 2017	USDL-17-0416

Technical information:  (202) 691-5870  •  JoltsInfo@bls.gov  •  www.bls.gov/jlt
Media contact:          (202) 691-5902  •  PressOffice@bls.gov

                         JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – FEBRUARY 2017

The number of job openings was little changed at 5.7 million on the last business day of February, the 
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and separations were also little 
changed at 5.3 million and 5.1 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate was little changed 
at 2.1 percent, and the layoffs and discharges rate was unchanged at 1.1 percent. This release includes 
estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by 
industry and by four geographic regions.

Job Openings

On the last business day of February, there were 5.7 million job openings, little changed from January. 
The job openings rate was 3.8 percent in February. The number of job openings was little changed for 
total private and for government. Job openings increased in a number of industries, with the largest 
changes occurring in health care and social assistance (+73,000), accommodation and food services 
(+66,000), and finance and insurance (+47,000). Job openings decreased in real estate and rental and 
leasing (-63,000) and mining and logging (-7,000). Job openings increased in the Northeast region. (See 
table 1.)

Hires

The number of hires was essentially unchanged at 5.3 million in February. The hires rate was 3.6 
percent. The number of hires was little changed for total private and for government. Hires increased in 
retail trade (+74,000) and mining and logging (+9,000), but decreased in federal government (-13,000). 
The number of hires was little changed in all four regions. (See table 2.)

Separations

Total separations includes quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Total separations is 
referred to as turnover. Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, 
the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and 
discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. Other separations includes separations 
due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.

There were 5.1 million total separations in February, little changed from January. The total separations 
rate in February was 3.5 percent. The number of total separations was little changed for total private and 
for government. Total separations decreased in health care and social assistance (-54,000), educational 
services (-22,000), and federal government (-6,000). The number of total separations was little changed 
in all four regions. (See table 3.)

The number of quits was essentially unchanged at 3.1 million in February. The quits rate was 2.1 
percent. The number of quits was little changed for total private and for government. Quits increased in 
transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+25,000) and mining and logging (+5,000). The number of 
quits decreased in health care and social assistance (-53,000), wholesale trade (-34,000), and finance and 
insurance (-22,000). In the regions, the number of quits decreased in the West. (See table 4.)

There were 1.6 million layoffs and discharges in February, little changed from January. The layoffs and 
discharges rate was 1.1 percent in February. The number of layoffs and discharges was little changed for 
total private and for government. The layoffs and discharges level increased in retail trade (+57,000) and 
state and local government education (+12,000). The number of layoffs and discharges decreased in 
transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-44,000), educational services (-15,000), and federal 
government (-3,000). Layoffs and discharges decreased in the Midwest region. (See table 5.)

In February, the number of other separations was little changed for total nonfarm, total private, and 
government. Other separations increased in accommodation and food services (+15,000) and state and 
local government education (+6,000), but decreased in information (-7,000) and educational services
(-4,000). The number of other separations was little changed in all four regions. (See table 6.)

Net Change in Employment

Large numbers of hires and separations occur every month throughout the business cycle. Net 
employment change results from the relationship between hires and separations. When the number of 
hires exceeds the number of separations, employment rises, even if the hires level is steady or declining. 
Conversely, when the number of hires is less than the number of separations, employment declines, even 
if the hires level is steady or rising. Over the 12 months ending in February, hires totaled 63.0 million 
and separations totaled 60.6 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.4 million. These totals 
include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.
____________
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey results for March 2017 are scheduled to be 
released on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).

Table A. Job openings, hires, and total separations by industry, seasonally adjusted

Category	Job openings			Hires			Total separations
	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
LEVELS BY INDUSTRY (in thousands)
Total	5,566	5,625	5,743	5,447	5,424	5,314	5,183	5,247	5,071
Total private	5,092	5,133	5,235	5,094	5,067	4,968	4,844	4,908	4,730
Mining and logging(1)	8	25	18	21	30	39	43	32	35
Construction(1)	193	142	169	347	387	369	334	361	334
Manufacturing	306	361	364	287	304	305	307	304	292
Durable goods(1)	158	206	209	170	165	156	189	163	155
Nondurable goods(1)	148	155	155	117	139	149	118	141	137
Trade, transportation, and utilities	988	959	910	1,160	1,023	1,089	1,047	1,012	1,035
Wholesale trade(1)	197	201	193	142	140	136	137	150	125
Retail trade	612	581	541	831	682	756	742	670	739
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(1)	180	177	175	187	201	196	167	192	171
Information(1)	86	73	69	82	80	85	73	87	85
Financial activities	344	388	372	234	220	188	225	198	182
Finance and insurance	253	248	295	165	150	121	163	133	128
Real estate and rental and leasing(1)	90	140	77	70	70	67	61	65	54
Professional and business services	1,107	1,056	1,002	1,076	1,128	1,068	1,072	1,068	1,036
Education and health services	1,050	1,158	1,257	648	646	624	567	639	563
Educational services(1)	110	93	120	108	79	78	94	82	60
Health care and social assistance	940	1,065	1,138	540	567	546	473	557	503
Leisure and hospitality	775	729	808	1,051	1,015	989	1,018	987	974
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	68	83	96	151	146	151	128	135	139
Accommodation and food services	706	646	712	900	869	838	889	852	835
Other services(1)	235	241	267	188	233	211	160	219	194
Government	474	492	507	353	357	346	339	339	341
Federal(1)	87	82	78	44	46	33	39	38	32
State and local	387	410	430	309	312	313	300	301	309
State and local education	145	161	147	147	159	155	160	151	166
State and local, excluding education(1)	242	249	283	162	153	158	140	149	144
RATES BY INDUSTRY (percent)
Total	3.7	3.7	3.8	3.8	3.7	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.5
Total private	4.0	4.0	4.1	4.2	4.1	4.0	4.0	4.0	3.8
Mining and logging(1)	1.1	3.5	2.6	3.0	4.4	5.8	6.0	4.8	5.2
Construction(1)	2.8	2.0	2.4	5.2	5.7	5.4	5.0	5.3	4.9
Manufacturing	2.4	2.8	2.9	2.3	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.4
Durable goods(1)	2.0	2.6	2.6	2.2	2.1	2.0	2.4	2.1	2.0
Nondurable goods(1)	3.1	3.2	3.2	2.5	3.0	3.2	2.5	3.0	2.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	3.5	3.4	3.2	4.3	3.7	4.0	3.9	3.7	3.8
Wholesale trade(1)	3.3	3.3	3.2	2.4	2.4	2.3	2.3	2.5	2.1
Retail trade	3.7	3.5	3.3	5.3	4.3	4.8	4.7	4.2	4.7
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(1)	3.2	3.1	3.0	3.4	3.6	3.5	3.0	3.4	3.0
Information(1)	3.0	2.6	2.4	3.0	2.9	3.1	2.6	3.2	3.1
Financial activities	4.0	4.4	4.2	2.9	2.6	2.2	2.7	2.4	2.2
Finance and insurance	4.0	3.8	4.5	2.7	2.4	1.9	2.7	2.1	2.1
Real estate and rental and leasing(1)	4.1	6.0	3.4	3.3	3.2	3.1	2.9	3.0	2.5
Professional and business services	5.3	4.9	4.7	5.4	5.5	5.2	5.4	5.2	5.1
Education and health services	4.5	4.8	5.2	2.9	2.8	2.7	2.5	2.8	2.5
Educational services(1)	3.0	2.5	3.2	3.1	2.2	2.2	2.7	2.3	1.6
Health care and social assistance	4.7	5.2	5.6	2.9	2.9	2.8	2.5	2.9	2.6
Leisure and hospitality	4.8	4.4	4.9	6.8	6.4	6.3	6.6	6.3	6.2
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	3.0	3.6	4.1	6.8	6.5	6.7	5.8	6.0	6.2
Accommodation and food services	5.1	4.6	5.0	6.8	6.4	6.2	6.7	6.3	6.2
Other services(1)	4.0	4.0	4.5	3.3	4.1	3.7	2.8	3.8	3.4
Government	2.1	2.2	2.2	1.6	1.6	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Federal(1)	3.0	2.8	2.7	1.6	1.6	1.2	1.4	1.4	1.1
State and local	2.0	2.1	2.2	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.5	1.6
State and local education	1.4	1.5	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.5	1.6
State and local, excluding education(1)	2.6	2.7	3.0	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.5	1.6	1.6
Footnotes (1) No regular seasonal movements could be identified in the job openings series, therefore, the seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted data are identical. (p) Preliminary

Technical Note


This news release presents statistics from the Job Openings and Labor
Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects
and compiles JOLTS data monthly from a sample of nonfarm
establishments. A more detailed discussion of JOLTS concepts and
methodology is available online at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch18.pdf.

Coverage and collection

The JOLTS program covers all private nonfarm establishments, as well
as federal, state, and local government entities in the 50 states and
the District of Columbia. Data are collected for total employment, job
openings, hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, other separations, and
total separations.

Concepts

Industry classification.  The industry classifications in this release
are in accordance with the 2012 version of the North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS).

Employment.  Employment includes persons on the payroll who worked or
received pay for the pay period that includes the 12th day of the
reference month. Full-time, part-time, permanent, short-term,
seasonal, salaried, and hourly employees are included, as are
employees on paid vacations or other paid leave. Proprietors or
partners of unincorporated businesses, unpaid family workers, or
persons on leave without pay or on strike for the entire pay period,
are not counted as employed. Employees of temporary help agencies,
employee leasing companies, outside contractors, and consultants are
counted by their employer of record, not by the establishment where
they are working.

Job openings.  Job openings information is collected for the last
business day of the reference month. A job opening requires that: 1) a
specific position exists and there is work available for that
position, 2) work could start within 30 days whether or not the
employer found a suitable candidate, and 3) the employer is actively
recruiting from outside the establishment to fill the position.
Included are full-time, part-time, permanent, short-term, and seasonal
openings. Active recruiting means that the establishment is taking
steps to fill a position by advertising in newspapers or on the
Internet, posting help-wanted signs, accepting applications, or using
other similar methods.

Jobs to be filled only by internal transfers, promotions, demotions,
or recall from layoffs are excluded. Also excluded are jobs with start
dates more than 30 days in the future, jobs for which employees have
been hired but have not yet reported for work, and jobs to be filled
by employees of temporary help agencies, employee leasing companies,
outside contractors, or consultants. The job openings rate is computed
by dividing the number of job openings by the sum of employment and
job openings and multiplying that quotient by 100.

Hires.  The hires level is the total number of additions to the
payroll occurring at any time during the reference month, including
both new and rehired employees, full-time and part-time, permanent,
short-term and seasonal employees, employees recalled to the location
after a layoff lasting more than 7 days, on-call or intermittent
employees who returned to work after having been formally separated,
and transfers from other locations. The hires count does not include
transfers or promotions within the reporting site, employees returning
from strike, employees of temporary help agencies or employee leasing
companies, outside contractors, or consultants. The hires rate is
computed by dividing the number of hires by employment and multiplying
that quotient by 100.

Separations.  The separations level is the total number of employment
terminations occurring at any time during the reference month, and is
reported by type of separation—quits, layoffs and discharges, and
other separations. (Some respondents are only able to report total
separations.) The quits count includes voluntary separations by
employees (except for retirements, which are reported as other
separations). The layoffs and discharges count is comprised of
involuntary separations initiated by the employer and includes layoffs
with no intent to rehire; formal layoffs lasting or expected to last
more than 7 days; discharges resulting from mergers, downsizing, or
closings; firings or other discharges for cause; terminations of
permanent or short-term employees; and terminations of seasonal
employees. The other separations count includes retirements, transfers
to other locations, deaths, and separations due to disability. The
separations count does not include transfers within the same location
or employees on strike. The separations rate is computed by dividing
the number of separations by employment and multiplying that quotient
by 100. The quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations rates
are computed similarly.

Annual estimates.  Annual levels for hires, quits, layoffs and
discharges, other separations, and total separations are the sum of
the 12 published monthly levels. Annual rates are computed by dividing
the annual level by the Current Employment Statistics (CES) annual
average employment level, and multiplying that quotient by 100. This
figure will be approximately equal to the sum of the 12 monthly rates.
Consistent with BLS practice, annual estimates are published only for
not seasonally adjusted data and are released with the January news
release each year. Annual estimates are not calculated for job
openings because job openings are a stock, or point-in-time,
measurement for the last business day of each month.

Sample and estimation methodology

The JOLTS survey design is a stratified random sample of 16,000
nonfarm business and government establishments. The sample is
stratified by ownership, region, industry sector, and establishment
size class. The establishments are drawn from a universe of over 9.1
million establishments compiled by the Quarterly Census of Employment
and Wages (QCEW) program which includes all employers subject to state
unemployment insurance laws and federal agencies subject to the
Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees program.

JOLTS total employment estimates are benchmarked, or ratio adjusted,
monthly to the strike-adjusted employment estimates of the CES survey.
A ratio of CES to JOLTS employment is used to adjust the levels for
all other JOLTS data elements.

JOLTS business birth/death model

As with any sample survey, the JOLTS sample can only be as current as
its sampling frame. The time lag from the birth of an establishment
until its appearance on the sampling frame is approximately one year.
In addition, many of these new units may fail within the first year.
Since these universe units cannot be reflected on the sampling frame
immediately, the JOLTS sample cannot capture job openings, hires, and
separations from these units during their early existence. To
compensate for the inability to capture data from these
establishments, BLS has developed a birth/death model that uses birth
and death activity from previous years. The estimates of job openings,
hires, and separations produced by the birth/death model are added to
the sample-based estimates produced from the survey to arrive at the
estimates for openings, hires, and separations.

Seasonal adjustment

BLS uses X-13 ARIMA to seasonally adjust several JOLTS series
utilizing moving averages as seasonal filters. A concurrent seasonal
adjustment methodology is used in which new seasonal adjustment
factors are calculated each month, using all relevant data, up to and
including current month data. JOLTS seasonal adjustment includes both
additive and multiplicative models and REGARIMA (regression with auto-
correlated errors) modeling to improve the seasonal adjustment factors
at the beginning and end of the series and to detect and adjust for
outliers in the series.

Alignment procedure

The JOLTS measures for hires minus separations can be used to derive a
measure of net employment change. This change should be comparable to
the net employment change from the much larger CES survey. However,
definitional differences as well as sampling and nonsampling errors
between the two surveys historically caused JOLTS to diverge from CES
over time. To limit the divergence, and improve the quality of the
JOLTS hires and separations series, BLS implemented the Monthly
Alignment Method.

This method applies the CES employment trends to the seasonally
adjusted JOLTS implied employment trend (hires minus separations)
forcing them to be approximately the same, while preserving the
seasonality of the JOLTS data. First, the two series are seasonally
adjusted and the difference between the JOLTS implied employment
change and the CES net employment change is calculated. Next, the
JOLTS implied employment change is adjusted to equal the CES net
employment change through a proportional adjustment. This procedure
adjusts the two components (hires, separations) proportionally to
their contribution to the total churn (hires plus separations). The
adjusted hires and separations are converted back to not seasonally
adjusted data by reversing the application of the original seasonal
factors. After the Monthly Alignment Method has been used to adjust
the level estimates, rate estimates are computed from the adjusted
levels.

Reliability of the estimates

JOLTS estimates are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error.
When a sample is surveyed rather than the entire population, there is
a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true"
population values they represent. The exact difference, or sampling
error, varies depending on the particular sample selected, and this
variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. BLS
analysis is generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence.
That means that there is a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence,
that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6
standard errors from the "true" population value because of sampling
error. Sampling error estimates are available at 
www.bls.gov/jlt/jolts_median_standard_errors.htm.

The JOLTS estimates also are affected by nonsampling error.
Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the failure to
include a segment of the population, the inability to obtain data from
all units in the sample, the inability or unwillingness of respondents
to provide data on a timely basis, mistakes made by respondents,
errors made in the collection or processing of the data, and errors
from the employment benchmark data used in estimation.

Other information

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay
Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Job openings levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)						Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	5,566	5,587	5,631	5,539	5,625	5,743	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.8
INDUSTRY
Total private	5,092	5,103	5,056	5,065	5,133	5,235	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.1
Mining and logging(3)	8	12	16	17	25	18	1.1	1.7	2.4	2.5	3.5	2.6
Construction(3)	193	196	178	140	142	169	2.8	2.8	2.6	2.0	2.0	2.4
Manufacturing	306	314	319	342	361	364	2.4	2.5	2.5	2.7	2.8	2.9
Durable goods(3)	158	199	186	194	206	209	2.0	2.5	2.4	2.5	2.6	2.6
Nondurable goods(3)	148	115	133	148	155	155	3.1	2.4	2.8	3.1	3.2	3.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	988	1,021	1,017	1,014	959	910	3.5	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.4	3.2
Wholesale trade(3)	197	185	203	182	201	193	3.3	3.0	3.3	3.0	3.3	3.2
Retail trade	612	650	636	650	581	541	3.7	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.5	3.3
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(3)	180	186	178	182	177	175	3.2	3.2	3.1	3.1	3.1	3.0
Information(3)	86	74	73	81	73	69	3.0	2.6	2.6	2.8	2.6	2.4
Financial activities	344	317	324	357	388	372	4.0	3.7	3.7	4.1	4.4	4.2
Finance and insurance	253	242	263	272	248	295	4.0	3.8	4.1	4.2	3.8	4.5
Real estate and rental and leasing(3)	90	75	61	85	140	77	4.1	3.4	2.7	3.8	6.0	3.4
Professional and business services	1,107	1,083	1,047	989	1,056	1,002	5.3	5.1	4.9	4.6	4.9	4.7
Education and health services	1,050	1,161	1,135	1,158	1,158	1,257	4.5	4.8	4.7	4.8	4.8	5.2
Educational services(3)	110	107	86	93	93	120	3.0	2.9	2.3	2.5	2.5	3.2
Health care and social assistance	940	1,054	1,048	1,065	1,065	1,138	4.7	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.6
Leisure and hospitality	775	731	756	730	729	808	4.8	4.5	4.6	4.4	4.4	4.9
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	68	96	96	89	83	96	3.0	4.1	4.1	3.8	3.6	4.1
Accommodation and food services	706	636	660	640	646	712	5.1	4.5	4.7	4.5	4.6	5.0
Other services(3)	235	194	192	236	241	267	4.0	3.3	3.2	4.0	4.0	4.5
Government	474	484	575	474	492	507	2.1	2.1	2.5	2.1	2.2	2.2
Federal(3)	87	74	82	110	82	78	3.0	2.6	2.8	3.8	2.8	2.7
State and local	387	410	494	364	410	430	2.0	2.1	2.5	1.8	2.1	2.2
State and local education	145	126	150	143	161	147	1.4	1.2	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.4
State and local, excluding education(3)	242	284	344	220	249	283	2.6	3.0	3.6	2.4	2.7	3.0
REGION(4)
Northeast	866	983	942	967	998	1,116	3.2	3.5	3.4	3.5	3.6	4.0
South	2,138	1,978	2,079	2,008	2,024	2,080	3.9	3.6	3.8	3.7	3.7	3.8
Midwest	1,265	1,278	1,263	1,253	1,324	1,293	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.7	3.9	3.8
West	1,297	1,349	1,347	1,312	1,279	1,254	3.8	3.9	3.9	3.8	3.7	3.6
Footnotes (1) Job openings are the number of job openings on the last business day of the month. (2) The job openings rate is the number of job openings on the last business day of the month as a percent of total employment plus job openings. (3) No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted series. (4) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary

Table 2. Hires levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)						Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	5,447	5,200	5,263	5,303	5,424	5,314	3.8	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.7	3.6
INDUSTRY
Total private	5,094	4,870	4,912	4,984	5,067	4,968	4.2	4.0	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.0
Mining and logging	21	28	30	22	30	39	3.0	4.3	4.5	3.2	4.4	5.8
Construction	347	343	337	400	387	369	5.2	5.1	5.0	5.9	5.7	5.4
Manufacturing	287	279	284	293	304	305	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.4	2.5	2.5
Durable goods	170	161	169	171	165	156	2.2	2.1	2.2	2.2	2.1	2.0
Nondurable goods	117	118	115	122	139	149	2.5	2.6	2.5	2.6	3.0	3.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,160	1,083	1,016	1,009	1,023	1,089	4.3	4.0	3.7	3.7	3.7	4.0
Wholesale trade	142	128	135	130	140	136	2.4	2.2	2.3	2.2	2.4	2.3
Retail trade	831	740	666	672	682	756	5.3	4.7	4.2	4.2	4.3	4.8
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities	187	214	215	208	201	196	3.4	3.9	3.8	3.7	3.6	3.5
Information	82	72	71	79	80	85	3.0	2.6	2.6	2.8	2.9	3.1
Financial activities	234	170	175	190	220	188	2.9	2.0	2.1	2.3	2.6	2.2
Finance and insurance	165	104	114	126	150	121	2.7	1.7	1.8	2.0	2.4	1.9
Real estate and rental and leasing	70	66	61	64	70	67	3.3	3.1	2.8	3.0	3.2	3.1
Professional and business services	1,076	1,092	1,082	1,140	1,128	1,068	5.4	5.4	5.3	5.6	5.5	5.2
Education and health services	648	638	652	642	646	624	2.9	2.8	2.9	2.8	2.8	2.7
Educational services	108	75	81	78	79	78	3.1	2.1	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.2
Health care and social assistance	540	563	571	564	567	546	2.9	2.9	3.0	2.9	2.9	2.8
Leisure and hospitality	1,051	986	1,056	1,031	1,015	989	6.8	6.3	6.7	6.5	6.4	6.3
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	151	159	151	162	146	151	6.8	7.1	6.7	7.2	6.5	6.7
Accommodation and food services	900	827	904	869	869	838	6.8	6.1	6.7	6.4	6.4	6.2
Other services	188	180	210	178	233	211	3.3	3.2	3.7	3.1	4.1	3.7
Government	353	330	351	319	357	346	1.6	1.5	1.6	1.4	1.6	1.5
Federal	44	41	40	45	46	33	1.6	1.5	1.4	1.6	1.6	1.2
State and local	309	289	311	275	312	313	1.6	1.5	1.6	1.4	1.6	1.6
State and local education	147	118	142	137	159	155	1.4	1.1	1.4	1.3	1.5	1.5
State and local, excluding education	162	171	169	137	153	158	1.8	1.9	1.8	1.5	1.7	1.7
REGION(3)
Northeast	831	876	835	849	898	866	3.1	3.3	3.1	3.2	3.3	3.2
South	2,113	2,066	2,021	2,074	2,091	2,095	4.0	3.9	3.8	3.9	3.9	3.9
Midwest	1,270	1,140	1,192	1,176	1,162	1,148	4.0	3.5	3.7	3.6	3.6	3.5
West	1,232	1,118	1,214	1,205	1,273	1,205	3.8	3.4	3.7	3.6	3.8	3.6
Footnotes (1) Hires are the number of hires during the entire month. (2) The hires rate is the number of hires during the entire month as a percent of total employment. (3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary

Table 3. Total separations levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)						Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	5,183	5,041	5,075	5,084	5,247	5,071	3.6	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.6	3.5
INDUSTRY
Total private	4,844	4,699	4,720	4,754	4,908	4,730	4.0	3.8	3.8	3.9	4.0	3.8
Mining and logging	43	30	25	22	32	35	6.0	4.5	3.7	3.3	4.8	5.2
Construction	334	322	323	369	361	334	5.0	4.8	4.8	5.4	5.3	4.9
Manufacturing	307	282	286	287	304	292	2.5	2.3	2.3	2.3	2.5	2.4
Durable goods	189	159	165	163	163	155	2.4	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.0
Nondurable goods	118	123	121	124	141	137	2.5	2.7	2.6	2.7	3.0	2.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1,047	1,049	1,018	958	1,012	1,035	3.9	3.8	3.7	3.5	3.7	3.8
Wholesale trade	137	122	129	142	150	125	2.3	2.1	2.2	2.4	2.5	2.1
Retail trade	742	732	698	631	670	739	4.7	4.6	4.4	4.0	4.2	4.7
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities	167	196	191	185	192	171	3.0	3.5	3.4	3.3	3.4	3.0
Information	73	76	73	82	87	85	2.6	2.7	2.6	3.0	3.2	3.1
Financial activities	225	161	160	162	198	182	2.7	1.9	1.9	1.9	2.4	2.2
Finance and insurance	163	99	120	107	133	128	2.7	1.6	1.9	1.7	2.1	2.1
Real estate and rental and leasing	61	62	40	55	65	54	2.9	2.9	1.9	2.5	3.0	2.5
Professional and business services	1,072	1,051	1,069	1,132	1,068	1,036	5.4	5.2	5.2	5.5	5.2	5.1
Education and health services	567	592	610	596	639	563	2.5	2.6	2.7	2.6	2.8	2.5
Educational services	94	73	72	73	82	60	2.7	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.3	1.6
Health care and social assistance	473	520	539	522	557	503	2.5	2.7	2.8	2.7	2.9	2.6
Leisure and hospitality	1,018	966	986	974	987	974	6.6	6.2	6.3	6.2	6.3	6.2
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	128	155	144	156	135	139	5.8	6.9	6.4	7.0	6.0	6.2
Accommodation and food services	889	811	842	817	852	835	6.7	6.0	6.2	6.1	6.3	6.2
Other services	160	170	170	172	219	194	2.8	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.8	3.4
Government	339	342	355	330	339	341	1.5	1.5	1.6	1.5	1.5	1.5
Federal	39	35	43	41	38	32	1.4	1.2	1.5	1.4	1.4	1.1
State and local	300	307	313	289	301	309	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.5	1.5	1.6
State and local education	160	136	155	133	151	166	1.6	1.3	1.5	1.3	1.5	1.6
State and local, excluding education	140	170	158	156	149	144	1.5	1.9	1.7	1.7	1.6	1.6
REGION(3)
Northeast	824	796	848	812	840	848	3.1	3.0	3.2	3.0	3.1	3.1
South	2,005	1,951	1,947	1,966	1,991	1,986	3.8	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.8	3.7
Midwest	1,167	1,141	1,113	1,128	1,177	1,097	3.7	3.5	3.4	3.5	3.6	3.4
West	1,186	1,153	1,166	1,178	1,239	1,140	3.6	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.7	3.4
Footnotes (1) Total separations are the number of total separations during the entire month. (2) The total separations rate is the number of total separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment. (3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary

Table 4. Quits levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)						Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	2,984	3,078	3,080	3,085	3,186	3,084	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.2	2.1
INDUSTRY
Total private	2,826	2,912	2,909	2,915	3,011	2,916	2.3	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4
Mining and logging	12	12	13	12	13	18	1.7	1.9	2.0	1.9	2.0	2.7
Construction	97	127	150	134	151	166	1.5	1.9	2.2	2.0	2.2	2.4
Manufacturing	161	165	164	165	177	182	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.5
Durable goods	94	88	93	89	96	94	1.2	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2
Nondurable goods	66	76	71	75	82	88	1.4	1.6	1.5	1.6	1.8	1.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	633	681	655	623	657	654	2.3	2.5	2.4	2.3	2.4	2.4
Wholesale trade	85	73	87	94	103	69	1.5	1.2	1.5	1.6	1.8	1.2
Retail trade	464	493	460	432	469	474	2.9	3.1	2.9	2.7	2.9	3.0
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities	84	114	108	97	85	110	1.5	2.0	1.9	1.7	1.5	2.0
Information	41	42	35	49	42	49	1.5	1.5	1.3	1.8	1.5	1.8
Financial activities	138	91	85	78	123	87	1.7	1.1	1.0	0.9	1.5	1.0
Finance and insurance	101	65	66	59	80	58	1.7	1.0	1.1	0.9	1.3	0.9
Real estate and rental and leasing(3)	37	27	19	19	43	28	1.7	1.2	0.9	0.9	2.0	1.3
Professional and business services	597	617	635	672	625	610	3.0	3.0	3.1	3.3	3.1	3.0
Education and health services	383	396	395	409	438	382	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.8	1.9	1.7
Educational services	43	43	44	41	45	41	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.1	1.2	1.1
Health care and social assistance	340	353	351	367	394	341	1.8	1.8	1.8	1.9	2.0	1.8
Leisure and hospitality	676	668	693	688	662	663	4.4	4.3	4.4	4.4	4.2	4.2
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	72	69	77	73	70	72	3.2	3.1	3.4	3.2	3.1	3.2
Accommodation and food services	604	600	616	615	593	591	4.6	4.5	4.6	4.6	4.4	4.4
Other services(3)	88	112	83	86	123	106	1.6	2.0	1.5	1.5	2.1	1.8
Government	158	167	171	170	175	168	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
Federal	14	12	17	15	15	14	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.5
State and local	144	155	154	155	161	154	0.7	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8
State and local education	73	75	80	70	75	72	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.7
State and local, excluding education	71	80	73	85	86	82	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.9	0.9	0.9
REGION(4)
Northeast	428	434	475	440	430	428	1.6	1.6	1.8	1.6	1.6	1.6
South	1,166	1,229	1,207	1,250	1,248	1,244	2.2	2.3	2.3	2.4	2.4	2.3
Midwest	717	692	695	664	719	731	2.2	2.1	2.2	2.1	2.2	2.3
West	673	723	703	730	789	681	2.1	2.2	2.1	2.2	2.4	2.0
Footnotes (1) Quits are the number of quits during the entire month. (2) The quits rate is the number of quits during the entire month as a percent of total employment. (3) No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted series. (4) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary

Table 5. Layoffs and discharges levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)						Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	1,834	1,593	1,660	1,624	1,659	1,584	1.3	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.1
INDUSTRY
Total private	1,713	1,482	1,539	1,525	1,555	1,475	1.4	1.2	1.3	1.2	1.3	1.2
Mining and logging(3)	28	11	8	6	16	13	3.9	1.7	1.2	0.9	2.4	1.9
Construction	226	180	153	214	177	146	3.4	2.7	2.3	3.2	2.6	2.1
Manufacturing	119	94	99	100	103	86	1.0	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.7
Durable goods	80	56	57	57	55	45	1.0	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.7	0.6
Nondurable goods	38	38	42	43	48	41	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.9	1.0	0.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	307	268	293	247	289	303	1.1	1.0	1.1	0.9	1.1	1.1
Wholesale trade(3)	42	35	32	36	39	41	0.7	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.7
Retail trade	194	167	188	142	155	212	1.2	1.1	1.2	0.9	1.0	1.3
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities	71	66	73	69	94	50	1.3	1.2	1.3	1.2	1.7	0.9
Information	21	20	27	23	27	25	0.7	0.7	1.0	0.8	1.0	0.9
Financial activities	61	54	53	61	50	66	0.7	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.6	0.8
Finance and insurance	40	22	32	29	30	45	0.7	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.7
Real estate and rental and leasing	21	32	21	32	19	21	1.0	1.5	1.0	1.5	0.9	1.0
Professional and business services	420	377	384	401	383	363	2.1	1.9	1.9	2.0	1.9	1.8
Education and health services	155	162	183	142	132	130	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.6
Educational services	48	26	26	28	31	16	1.4	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.4
Health care and social assistance	106	136	157	114	102	114	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.6	0.5	0.6
Leisure and hospitality	312	268	259	256	296	269	2.0	1.7	1.6	1.6	1.9	1.7
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	54	84	66	81	60	64	2.4	3.7	2.9	3.6	2.7	2.8
Accommodation and food services	259	184	194	175	235	205	1.9	1.4	1.4	1.3	1.7	1.5
Other services	65	47	79	75	83	74	1.1	0.8	1.4	1.3	1.4	1.3
Government	122	111	121	99	104	109	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.5
Federal	13	11	13	13	13	10	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.3
State and local	108	100	108	86	91	99	0.6	0.5	0.6	0.4	0.5	0.5
State and local education	64	39	50	40	51	63	0.6	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.6
State and local, excluding education	44	61	57	46	39	37	0.5	0.7	0.6	0.5	0.4	0.4
REGION(4)
Northeast	350	299	307	310	340	350	1.3	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.3
South	700	576	608	566	573	576	1.3	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.1
Midwest	388	362	355	387	383	292	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.2	0.9
West	396	357	390	361	362	366	1.2	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.1
Footnotes (1) Layoffs and discharges are the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month. (2) The layoffs and discharges rate is the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month as a percent of total employment. (3) No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted series. (4) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary

Table 6. Other separations levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)						Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016	Dec. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	365	370	334	375	402	404	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3
INDUSTRY
Total private	305	305	272	314	342	339	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3
Mining and logging	3	6	4	4	3	4	0.4	1.0	0.6	0.6	0.4	0.6
Construction(3)	12	15	19	20	32	23	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.5	0.3
Manufacturing	28	23	23	23	24	24	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Durable goods	15	15	16	17	13	16	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Nondurable goods(3)	13	8	8	6	11	8	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	106	100	69	88	66	78	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.3
Wholesale trade	10	13	9	13	7	15	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.3
Retail trade	84	71	49	57	46	52	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.3
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(3)	12	15	10	18	13	11	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.2
Information(3)	11	14	11	10	18	11	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.7	0.4
Financial activities	25	16	23	23	26	29	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Finance and insurance	22	12	22	20	23	25	0.4	0.2	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.4
Real estate and rental and leasing(3)	3	3	1	4	3	4	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.2	0.1	0.2
Professional and business services	55	56	50	59	61	62	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3
Education and health services	29	34	32	45	68	52	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.2
Educational services(3)	2	3	2	4	7	3	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.2	0.1
Health care and social assistance(3)	27	31	30	41	61	49	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3
Leisure and hospitality	29	30	34	30	29	42	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3
Arts, entertainment, and recreation(3)	3	2	2	3	5	3	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.1
Accommodation and food services(3)	26	28	33	27	24	39	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3
Other services(3)	7	11	7	12	14	15	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.3
Government	59	64	63	62	60	65	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Federal	12	13	12	13	10	8	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.3
State and local	48	52	51	49	49	56	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
State and local education	23	23	24	23	25	31	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3
State and local, excluding education	24	29	27	26	24	26	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
REGION(4)
Northeast	46	63	66	62	70	70	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3
South	139	147	132	150	171	166	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Midwest	62	87	63	77	75	74	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
West	117	73	73	86	87	94	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3
Footnotes (1) Other separations are the number of other separations during the entire month. (2) The other separations rate is the number of other separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment. (3) No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted series. (4) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary
NOTE: Levels are rounded to the nearest thousand and rates are rounded to the nearest tenth. Levels and rates may round down to zero.

Table 7. Job openings levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)			Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	5,412	5,557	5,592	3.7	3.7	3.7
INDUSTRY
Total private	4,957	5,086	5,104	4.0	4.0	4.0
Mining and logging	8	25	18	1.2	3.6	2.7
Construction	193	142	169	3.0	2.2	2.5
Manufacturing	306	361	364	2.4	2.9	2.9
Durable goods	158	206	209	2.0	2.6	2.6
Nondurable goods	148	155	155	3.1	3.3	3.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	935	887	843	3.4	3.2	3.0
Wholesale trade	197	201	193	3.3	3.3	3.2
Retail trade	559	508	474	3.5	3.1	2.9
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities	180	177	175	3.2	3.1	3.1
Information	86	73	69	3.0	2.6	2.4
Financial activities	312	409	346	3.7	4.7	4.0
Finance and insurance	221	268	270	3.5	4.1	4.2
Real estate and rental and leasing	90	140	77	4.2	6.1	3.5
Professional and business services	1,106	1,070	985	5.3	5.1	4.6
Education and health services	1,003	1,236	1,218	4.3	5.2	5.0
Educational services	110	93	120	2.9	2.6	3.1
Health care and social assistance	893	1,143	1,099	4.5	5.6	5.4
Leisure and hospitality	773	643	825	4.9	4.1	5.2
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	63	80	89	3.1	3.9	4.2
Accommodation and food services	710	563	736	5.2	4.1	5.3
Other services	235	241	267	4.0	4.1	4.5
Government	455	470	489	2.0	2.1	2.1
Federal	87	82	78	3.0	2.8	2.7
State and local	368	388	411	1.8	2.0	2.0
State and local education	126	139	129	1.2	1.3	1.2
State and local, excluding education	242	249	283	2.6	2.7	3.0
REGION(3)
Northeast	804	973	1,069	3.0	3.5	3.9
South	2,111	2,031	2,052	3.9	3.7	3.8
Midwest	1,237	1,270	1,260	3.8	3.8	3.8
West	1,260	1,282	1,211	3.7	3.8	3.5
Footnotes (1) Job openings are the number of job openings on the last business day of the month. (2) The job openings rate is the number of job openings on the last business day of the month as a percent of total employment plus job openings. (3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary

Table 8. Hires levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)			Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	4,521	5,226	4,408	3.2	3.6	3.1
INDUSTRY
Total private	4,262	4,908	4,152	3.6	4.1	3.4
Mining and logging	17	35	32	2.4	5.4	4.8
Construction	298	356	315	4.8	5.6	4.9
Manufacturing	252	322	270	2.0	2.6	2.2
Durable goods	153	180	138	2.0	2.3	1.8
Nondurable goods	99	142	132	2.2	3.1	2.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	895	862	848	3.3	3.2	3.1
Wholesale trade	124	154	119	2.1	2.6	2.0
Retail trade	636	520	592	4.1	3.3	3.8
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities	135	188	138	2.5	3.4	2.5
Information	66	94	70	2.4	3.5	2.5
Financial activities	190	245	151	2.3	2.9	1.8
Finance and insurance	138	170	101	2.3	2.7	1.6
Real estate and rental and leasing	52	75	50	2.5	3.5	2.4
Professional and business services	969	1,239	954	4.9	6.2	4.7
Education and health services	543	675	520	2.4	3.0	2.3
Educational services	85	75	63	2.3	2.2	1.7
Health care and social assistance	458	600	457	2.4	3.1	2.4
Leisure and hospitality	869	848	797	5.8	5.6	5.3
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	98	109	98	5.0	5.5	4.9
Accommodation and food services	770	740	699	6.0	5.7	5.3
Other services	164	230	194	2.9	4.1	3.4
Government	259	318	256	1.2	1.4	1.1
Federal	35	43	25	1.3	1.5	0.9
State and local	225	275	231	1.1	1.4	1.2
State and local education	109	153	117	1.0	1.5	1.1
State and local, excluding education	116	122	114	1.3	1.4	1.3
REGION(3)
Northeast	642	825	676	2.4	3.1	2.5
South	1,823	2,139	1,815	3.5	4.1	3.5
Midwest	1,014	1,074	909	3.2	3.4	2.8
West	1,043	1,188	1,008	3.2	3.6	3.1
Footnotes (1) Hires are the number of hires during the entire month. (2) The hires rate is the number of hires during the entire month as a percent of total employment. (3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary

Table 9. Total separations levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)			Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	4,226	5,776	4,138	3.0	4.0	2.9
INDUSTRY
Total private	4,018	5,453	3,930	3.4	4.5	3.2
Mining and logging	40	33	32	5.8	5.0	4.7
Construction	280	403	276	4.5	6.3	4.3
Manufacturing	268	310	249	2.2	2.5	2.0
Durable goods	170	174	132	2.2	2.3	1.7
Nondurable goods	98	136	117	2.1	3.0	2.5
Trade, transportation, and utilities	896	1,365	884	3.4	5.0	3.3
Wholesale trade	121	158	109	2.1	2.7	1.9
Retail trade	649	856	646	4.2	5.4	4.1
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities	125	351	129	2.3	6.3	2.3
Information	61	110	72	2.2	4.0	2.6
Financial activities	177	231	146	2.2	2.8	1.7
Finance and insurance	121	155	97	2.0	2.5	1.6
Real estate and rental and leasing	56	76	49	2.7	3.6	2.3
Professional and business services	942	1,172	905	4.8	5.8	4.5
Education and health services	452	657	461	2.0	2.9	2.0
Educational services	50	75	33	1.4	2.2	0.9
Health care and social assistance	402	582	429	2.1	3.0	2.2
Leisure and hospitality	758	957	727	5.1	6.4	4.8
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	74	106	76	3.7	5.3	3.8
Accommodation and food services	684	851	651	5.3	6.5	5.0
Other services	144	214	177	2.6	3.8	3.1
Government	208	323	208	0.9	1.5	0.9
Federal	30	68	24	1.1	2.4	0.8
State and local	177	255	184	0.9	1.3	0.9
State and local education	77	120	81	0.7	1.2	0.7
State and local, excluding education	101	135	104	1.1	1.5	1.2
REGION(3)
Northeast	625	965	649	2.4	3.6	2.4
South	1,670	2,170	1,651	3.2	4.2	3.1
Midwest	951	1,316	899	3.0	4.1	2.8
West	980	1,325	938	3.0	4.1	2.8
Footnotes (1) Total separations are the number of total separations during the entire month. (2) The total separations rate is the number of total separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment. (3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary

Table 10. Quits levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)			Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	2,465	3,172	2,550	1.7	2.2	1.8
INDUSTRY
Total private	2,353	3,019	2,432	2.0	2.5	2.0
Mining and logging	10	12	16	1.5	1.8	2.3
Construction	74	132	134	1.2	2.1	2.1
Manufacturing	130	166	153	1.1	1.4	1.2
Durable goods	75	94	77	1.0	1.2	1.0
Nondurable goods	54	73	76	1.2	1.6	1.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	530	697	547	2.0	2.6	2.0
Wholesale trade	73	110	57	1.3	1.9	1.0
Retail trade	391	506	401	2.5	3.2	2.6
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities	66	81	89	1.2	1.5	1.6
Information	34	48	43	1.2	1.8	1.6
Financial activities	114	127	72	1.4	1.5	0.9
Finance and insurance	77	84	44	1.3	1.3	0.7
Real estate and rental and leasing	37	43	28	1.8	2.0	1.3
Professional and business services	522	636	531	2.7	3.2	2.6
Education and health services	322	458	319	1.4	2.0	1.4
Educational services	27	42	24	0.7	1.2	0.6
Health care and social assistance	295	416	296	1.6	2.2	1.5
Leisure and hospitality	527	621	512	3.5	4.1	3.4
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	46	54	46	2.3	2.7	2.3
Accommodation and food services	481	567	467	3.7	4.3	3.5
Other services	88	123	106	1.6	2.2	1.9
Government	112	153	117	0.5	0.7	0.5
Federal	12	16	12	0.4	0.6	0.4
State and local	100	137	106	0.5	0.7	0.5
State and local education	42	62	41	0.4	0.6	0.4
State and local, excluding education	58	75	64	0.6	0.8	0.7
REGION(3)
Northeast	341	446	333	1.3	1.7	1.2
South	973	1,256	1,041	1.9	2.4	2.0
Midwest	582	682	607	1.8	2.1	1.9
West	569	787	569	1.8	2.4	1.7
Footnotes (1) Quits are the number of quits during the entire month. (2) The quits rate is the number of quits during the entire month as a percent of total employment. (3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary

Table 11. Layoffs and discharges levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)			Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	1,427	2,133	1,217	1.0	1.5	0.8
INDUSTRY
Total private	1,370	2,029	1,168	1.1	1.7	1.0
Mining and logging	28	16	13	4.0	2.5	1.9
Construction	193	239	119	3.1	3.7	1.8
Manufacturing	113	116	74	0.9	0.9	0.6
Durable goods	82	63	42	1.1	0.8	0.5
Nondurable goods	31	52	33	0.7	1.1	0.7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	258	585	259	1.0	2.1	1.0
Wholesale trade	42	39	41	0.7	0.7	0.7
Retail trade	169	289	188	1.1	1.8	1.2
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities	47	257	30	0.9	4.6	0.5
Information	16	44	19	0.6	1.6	0.7
Financial activities	44	68	51	0.5	0.8	0.6
Finance and insurance	28	38	35	0.5	0.6	0.6
Real estate and rental and leasing	16	30	16	0.8	1.4	0.8
Professional and business services	367	446	313	1.9	2.2	1.5
Education and health services	101	131	91	0.4	0.6	0.4
Educational services	21	26	6	0.6	0.7	0.2
Health care and social assistance	80	105	85	0.4	0.5	0.4
Leisure and hospitality	202	307	173	1.4	2.0	1.1
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	25	47	28	1.3	2.4	1.4
Accommodation and food services	176	260	146	1.4	2.0	1.1
Other services	49	78	57	0.9	1.4	1.0
Government	57	104	49	0.3	0.5	0.2
Federal	9	34	6	0.3	1.2	0.2
State and local	48	70	43	0.2	0.4	0.2
State and local education	24	39	25	0.2	0.4	0.2
State and local, excluding education	23	31	18	0.3	0.3	0.2
REGION(3)
Northeast	241	432	249	0.9	1.6	0.9
South	566	721	459	1.1	1.4	0.9
Midwest	313	534	230	1.0	1.7	0.7
West	307	446	280	0.9	1.4	0.8
Footnotes (1) Layoffs and discharges are the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month. (2) The layoffs and discharges rate is the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month as a percent of total employment. (3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary

Table 12. Other separations levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)

Industry and region	Levels (in thousands)			Rates(2)
	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)	Feb. 2016	Jan. 2017	Feb. 2017(p)
Total	335	471	371	0.2	0.3	0.3
INDUSTRY
Total private	296	404	329	0.2	0.3	0.3
Mining and logging	2	4	3	0.3	0.7	0.5
Construction	12	32	23	0.2	0.5	0.4
Manufacturing	26	28	22	0.2	0.2	0.2
Durable goods	13	17	14	0.2	0.2	0.2
Nondurable goods	13	11	8	0.3	0.2	0.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	108	83	78	0.4	0.3	0.3
Wholesale trade	7	9	12	0.1	0.2	0.2
Retail trade	89	60	56	0.6	0.4	0.4
Transportation, warehousing, and utilities	12	13	11	0.2	0.2	0.2
Information	11	18	11	0.4	0.7	0.4
Financial activities	19	36	23	0.2	0.4	0.3
Finance and insurance	16	33	18	0.3	0.5	0.3
Real estate and rental and leasing	3	3	4	0.2	0.1	0.2
Professional and business services	53	90	61	0.3	0.5	0.3
Education and health services	29	68	52	0.1	0.3	0.2
Educational services	2	7	3	0.1	0.2	0.1
Health care and social assistance	27	61	49	0.1	0.3	0.3
Leisure and hospitality	29	29	42	0.2	0.2	0.3
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	3	5	3	0.2	0.3	0.1
Accommodation and food services	26	24	39	0.2	0.2	0.3
Other services	7	14	15	0.1	0.2	0.3
Government	39	66	41	0.2	0.3	0.2
Federal	9	18	6	0.3	0.6	0.2
State and local	30	49	35	0.2	0.3	0.2
State and local education	10	20	14	0.1	0.2	0.1
State and local, excluding education	20	29	21	0.2	0.3	0.2
REGION(3)
Northeast	44	86	67	0.2	0.3	0.2
South	131	193	152	0.3	0.4	0.3
Midwest	56	100	63	0.2	0.3	0.2
West	104	92	89	0.3	0.3	0.3
Footnotes (1) Other separations are the number of other separations during the entire month. (2) The other separations rate is the number of other separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment. (3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. (p) Preliminary
NOTE: Levels are rounded to the nearest thousand and rates are rounded to the nearest tenth. Levels and rates may round down to zero.