November 16, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Hires and separation rates unchanged in September 2009

The hires rate was unchanged in September at 3.1 percent. The total separations, or turnover, rate was also unchanged in September and remained low at 3.3 percent. The hires rate increased in construction and was little changed in the remaining industries and in all four geographic regions.

Hires and separations rates, seasonally adjusted, September 2006–September 2009
[Chart data]

Additionally, the job openings rate was little changed in September at a rate of 1.9 percent. The number of job openings has fallen by 2.3 million, or 48 percent, since the most recent peak in June 2007.

These data are from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to revision. Find additional information in "Job Openings and Labor Turnover — September 2009" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-09-1359. Hires are the total number of additions to the payroll occurring at any time during the reference month. Separations are the total number of terminations of employment occurring at any time during the reference month, and are reported by type of separation—quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations.

 

 

Of interest

Spotlight on Statistics: The Recession of 2007–2009

The most recent recession in the United States began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, though many of the statistics that describe the U.S. economy have yet to return to their pre-recession values. In this Spotlight, we present BLS data that compare the recent recession to previous recessions. Read more »