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Economic News Release
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JOLTS JLT Program Links

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, February 11, 2020	USDL-20-0243

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 – DECEMBER 2019

The number of job openings fell to 6.4 million (-364,000) on the last business day of December, the U.S. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and separations were little changed at 
5.9 million and 5.7 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate and layoffs and discharges 
rate were unchanged at 2.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively. This release includes estimates of the 
number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector, by industry, and by 
four geographic regions.

Job Openings
 
On the last business day of December, the job openings level fell to 6.4 million (-364,000), and the job 
openings rate decreased to 4.0 percent. Over the year, the job openings level declined by 14.9 percent. 
Over the month, the number of job openings decreased for total private (-332,000) and was little 
changed for government. The largest decreases for job openings were in transportation, warehousing, 
and utilities (-88,000), real estate and rental and leasing (-34,000), and educational services (-34,000). 
The number of job openings fell in the South region. (See tables 1 and 7.)

Hires

The number of hires was little changed at 5.9 million in December. The hires rate was little changed at 
3.9 percent. The hires level increased in accommodation and food services (+69,000). The number of 
hires increased in the West region. (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.

In December, the number of total separations was little changed at 5.7 million and the rate was little 
changed at 3.8 percent. The number of total separations decreased in retail trade (-118,000) but 
increased in other services (+57,000). The total separations level increased in the South region. (See 
table 3.)

The number of quits was little changed in December at 3.5 million and the rate was unchanged at 2.3 
percent. Quits decreased in retail trade (-111,000) and arts, entertainment, and recreation (-20,000). The 
number of quits was little changed in all four regions. (See table 4.)

The number of layoffs and discharges was little changed in December at 1.9 million and the rate was 
unchanged at 1.2 percent. Layoffs and discharges increased in other services (+61,000) and arts, 
entertainment, and recreation (+47,000). The number of layoffs and discharges decreased in state and 
local government, excluding education (-15,000) and federal government (-3,000). The layoffs and 
discharges level increased in the South region. (See table 5.)

The number of other separations was little changed in December. Other separations decreased in other 
services (-18,000). 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 December, hires totaled 70.0 million and separations totaled 67.8 million, 
yielding a net employment gain of 2.2 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 estimates for January 2020 are scheduled to be 
released on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
|			  Upcoming Revisions to the JOLTS Estimates				  |
|												  |
|As part of an annual process, the January 2020 release on March 17, 2020, will incorporate the   |
|annual updates to the Current Employment Statistics employment estimates and the JOLTS           |
|seasonal adjustment factors. Unadjusted data and seasonally adjusted data from January 2015      |
|forward are subject to revision.								  |
|_________________________________________________________________________________________________|

Table A. Job openings, hires, and total separations by industry, seasonally adjusted
Category Job openings Hires Total separations
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

LEVELS BY INDUSTRY
(in thousands)


Total

7,479 6,787 6,423 5,717 5,827 5,907 5,469 5,709 5,730

Total private

6,860 6,071 5,739 5,353 5,460 5,563 5,122 5,361 5,393

Mining and logging(1)

29 22 14 39 24 26 34 30 30

Construction(1)

299 217 239 399 439 484 369 426 435

Manufacturing

435 381 360 351 339 330 342 333 340

Durable goods(1)

298 252 224 186 195 191 175 195 198

Nondurable goods(1)

137 129 136 165 143 139 167 138 143

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,482 1,244 1,121 1,176 1,166 1,148 1,134 1,231 1,101

Wholesale trade

178 190 190 151 157 128 143 149 121

Retail trade

986 733 698 802 769 767 765 847 729

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(1)

318 321 233 224 240 253 226 235 251

Information(1)

123 136 113 80 89 81 87 79 83

Financial activities

380 353 303 201 232 221 180 216 196

Finance and insurance

317 252 236 133 145 136 131 145 126

Real estate and rental and leasing(1)

63 102 68 67 87 85 49 70 70

Professional and business services

1,391 1,218 1,178 1,144 1,156 1,149 1,116 1,121 1,113

Education and health services

1,348 1,293 1,199 717 724 718 652 664 677

Educational services(1)

91 146 112 124 106 104 101 92 92

Health care and social assistance

1,258 1,147 1,087 593 618 614 551 572 585

Leisure and hospitality

1,102 982 969 1,037 1,081 1,147 1,007 1,073 1,174

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

154 124 147 154 184 182 153 177 203

Accommodation and food services

948 858 822 883 897 966 853 896 971

Other services

271 226 243 209 211 259 201 187 244

Government

619 716 684 364 367 344 347 348 336

Federal(1)

87 105 81 36 46 42 44 44 41

State and local

532 611 604 328 321 302 304 305 295

State and local education

229 223 225 176 162 147 163 150 158

State and local, excluding education(1)

304 388 379 152 159 156 141 155 138





RATES BY INDUSTRY
(percent)


Total

4.7 4.3 4.0 3.8 3.8 3.9 3.6 3.7 3.8

Total private

5.1 4.5 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.3 4.0 4.1 4.2

Mining and logging(1)

3.8 2.8 1.8 5.1 3.3 3.6 4.5 4.0 4.1

Construction(1)

3.9 2.8 3.1 5.4 5.8 6.4 5.0 5.7 5.8

Manufacturing

3.3 2.9 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.7 2.6 2.6

Durable goods(1)

3.6 3.0 2.7 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.2 2.4 2.5

Nondurable goods(1)

2.8 2.6 2.8 3.5 3.0 2.9 3.5 2.9 3.0

Trade, transportation, and utilities

5.1 4.3 3.9 4.2 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.4 3.9

Wholesale trade

2.9 3.1 3.1 2.6 2.6 2.1 2.4 2.5 2.0

Retail trade

5.9 4.4 4.2 5.1 4.9 4.8 4.8 5.4 4.6

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(1)

5.0 5.0 3.7 3.7 3.9 4.1 3.7 3.8 4.1

Information(1)

4.2 4.6 3.8 2.8 3.1 2.9 3.1 2.8 2.9

Financial activities

4.2 3.9 3.4 2.3 2.7 2.5 2.1 2.5 2.2

Finance and insurance

4.8 3.8 3.6 2.1 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.3 2.0

Real estate and rental and leasing(1)

2.7 4.2 2.8 2.9 3.7 3.6 2.1 3.0 3.0

Professional and business services

6.1 5.3 5.2 5.4 5.3 5.3 5.3 5.2 5.1

Education and health services

5.3 5.0 4.7 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.7 2.7 2.8

Educational services(1)

2.4 3.7 2.8 3.3 2.8 2.7 2.7 2.4 2.4

Health care and social assistance

5.9 5.3 5.0 2.9 3.0 3.0 2.7 2.8 2.8

Leisure and hospitality

6.2 5.5 5.4 6.3 6.4 6.8 6.1 6.3 6.9

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

5.9 4.7 5.5 6.3 7.3 7.2 6.3 7.1 8.0

Accommodation and food services

6.3 5.6 5.4 6.3 6.2 6.7 6.0 6.2 6.7

Other services

4.4 3.7 3.9 3.6 3.6 4.3 3.4 3.1 4.1

Government

2.7 3.1 2.9 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5

Federal(1)

3.0 3.6 2.8 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.5

State and local

2.6 3.0 3.0 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5

State and local education

2.1 2.1 2.1 1.7 1.5 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.5

State and local, excluding education(1)

3.2 4.0 3.9 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.5 1.7 1.5

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 2017 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)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

7,479 7,301 7,032 7,361 6,787 6,423 4.7 4.6 4.4 4.6 4.3 4.0

INDUSTRY

Total private

6,860 6,562 6,314 6,600 6,071 5,739 5.1 4.8 4.7 4.9 4.5 4.2

Mining and logging(3)

29 33 34 23 22 14 3.8 4.3 4.4 3.0 2.8 1.8

Construction(3)

299 384 327 326 217 239 3.9 4.9 4.2 4.2 2.8 3.1

Manufacturing

435 470 462 447 381 360 3.3 3.5 3.5 3.4 2.9 2.7

Durable goods(3)

298 321 292 307 252 224 3.6 3.8 3.5 3.7 3.0 2.7

Nondurable goods(3)

137 149 170 140 129 136 2.8 3.0 3.4 2.8 2.6 2.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,482 1,337 1,285 1,487 1,244 1,121 5.1 4.6 4.4 5.1 4.3 3.9

Wholesale trade

178 193 202 260 190 190 2.9 3.2 3.3 4.2 3.1 3.1

Retail trade

986 816 741 884 733 698 5.9 4.9 4.5 5.3 4.4 4.2

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(3)

318 327 343 343 321 233 5.0 5.1 5.3 5.3 5.0 3.7

Information(3)

123 137 162 138 136 113 4.2 4.6 5.4 4.7 4.6 3.8

Financial activities

380 377 360 422 353 303 4.2 4.2 4.0 4.6 3.9 3.4

Finance and insurance

317 269 267 324 252 236 4.8 4.1 4.0 4.8 3.8 3.6

Real estate and rental and leasing(3)

63 107 92 98 102 68 2.7 4.4 3.8 4.0 4.2 2.8

Professional and business services

1,391 1,305 1,241 1,236 1,218 1,178 6.1 5.7 5.4 5.4 5.3 5.2

Education and health services

1,348 1,330 1,205 1,277 1,293 1,199 5.3 5.2 4.7 5.0 5.0 4.7

Educational services(3)

91 135 125 145 146 112 2.4 3.4 3.2 3.6 3.7 2.8

Health care and social assistance

1,258 1,195 1,080 1,133 1,147 1,087 5.9 5.5 5.0 5.2 5.3 5.0

Leisure and hospitality

1,102 929 992 996 982 969 6.2 5.3 5.6 5.6 5.5 5.4

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

154 120 154 138 124 147 5.9 4.7 5.9 5.3 4.7 5.5

Accommodation and food services

948 809 838 858 858 822 6.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.6 5.4

Other services

271 261 245 248 226 243 4.4 4.2 4.0 4.0 3.7 3.9

Government

619 739 719 761 716 684 2.7 3.2 3.1 3.3 3.1 2.9

Federal(3)

87 121 110 120 105 81 3.0 4.1 3.7 4.1 3.6 2.8

State and local

532 618 608 641 611 604 2.6 3.0 3.0 3.1 3.0 3.0

State and local education

229 218 222 231 223 225 2.1 2.0 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.1

State and local, excluding education(3)

304 400 387 410 388 379 3.2 4.1 4.0 4.2 4.0 3.9

REGION(4)

Northeast

1,230 1,348 1,203 1,264 1,180 1,102 4.3 4.6 4.1 4.3 4.0 3.8

South

2,848 2,765 2,687 2,836 2,535 2,359 4.9 4.8 4.6 4.9 4.4 4.1

Midwest

1,767 1,569 1,563 1,675 1,500 1,422 5.1 4.5 4.5 4.8 4.3 4.1

West

1,634 1,620 1,580 1,586 1,572 1,540 4.5 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.2

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)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

5,717 5,884 5,951 5,782 5,827 5,907 3.8 3.9 3.9 3.8 3.8 3.9

INDUSTRY

Total private

5,353 5,489 5,596 5,426 5,460 5,563 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.2 4.3

Mining and logging

39 21 25 27 24 26 5.1 2.8 3.4 3.7 3.3 3.6

Construction

399 414 451 488 439 484 5.4 5.5 6.0 6.5 5.8 6.4

Manufacturing

351 337 338 321 339 330 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.6

Durable goods

186 192 194 184 195 191 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.4

Nondurable goods

165 145 144 137 143 139 3.5 3.0 3.0 2.9 3.0 2.9

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,176 1,173 1,197 1,114 1,166 1,148 4.2 4.2 4.3 4.0 4.2 4.1

Wholesale trade

151 145 165 146 157 128 2.6 2.4 2.8 2.4 2.6 2.1

Retail trade

802 782 788 712 769 767 5.1 5.0 5.0 4.5 4.9 4.8

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

224 245 244 257 240 253 3.7 4.0 4.0 4.2 3.9 4.1

Information

80 95 88 94 89 81 2.8 3.4 3.1 3.3 3.1 2.9

Financial activities

201 235 230 210 232 221 2.3 2.7 2.6 2.4 2.7 2.5

Finance and insurance

133 148 145 131 145 136 2.1 2.3 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.1

Real estate and rental and leasing

67 86 85 79 87 85 2.9 3.7 3.6 3.4 3.7 3.6

Professional and business services

1,144 1,163 1,209 1,143 1,156 1,149 5.4 5.4 5.6 5.3 5.3 5.3

Education and health services

717 686 719 712 724 718 3.0 2.8 2.9 2.9 3.0 2.9

Educational services

124 94 96 108 106 104 3.3 2.5 2.5 2.8 2.8 2.7

Health care and social assistance

593 593 623 604 618 614 2.9 2.9 3.0 2.9 3.0 3.0

Leisure and hospitality

1,037 1,135 1,150 1,098 1,081 1,147 6.3 6.8 6.9 6.5 6.4 6.8

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

154 161 167 161 184 182 6.3 6.6 6.7 6.5 7.3 7.2

Accommodation and food services

883 973 984 937 897 966 6.3 6.8 6.9 6.5 6.2 6.7

Other services

209 229 188 218 211 259 3.6 3.9 3.2 3.7 3.6 4.3

Government

364 396 355 356 367 344 1.6 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.5

Federal

36 70 41 40 46 42 1.3 2.5 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.5

State and local

328 325 314 316 321 302 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.5

State and local education

176 169 154 157 162 147 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.4

State and local, excluding education

152 156 160 158 159 156 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7

REGION(3)

Northeast

871 935 900 919 949 934 3.2 3.4 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.3

South

2,204 2,306 2,413 2,307 2,315 2,344 4.0 4.2 4.4 4.2 4.2 4.2

Midwest

1,324 1,285 1,295 1,266 1,324 1,269 4.0 3.9 3.9 3.8 4.0 3.8

West

1,318 1,358 1,343 1,290 1,239 1,360 3.8 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.5 3.9

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)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

5,469 5,732 5,798 5,652 5,709 5,730 3.6 3.8 3.8 3.7 3.7 3.8

INDUSTRY

Total private

5,122 5,385 5,454 5,282 5,361 5,393 4.0 4.2 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.2

Mining and logging

34 28 24 27 30 30 4.5 3.7 3.2 3.6 4.0 4.1

Construction

369 415 428 456 426 435 5.0 5.5 5.7 6.1 5.7 5.8

Manufacturing

342 320 349 324 333 340 2.7 2.5 2.7 2.5 2.6 2.6

Durable goods

175 183 203 193 195 198 2.2 2.3 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.5

Nondurable goods

167 137 145 131 138 143 3.5 2.9 3.0 2.7 2.9 3.0

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,134 1,202 1,204 1,086 1,231 1,101 4.1 4.3 4.3 3.9 4.4 3.9

Wholesale trade

143 145 167 139 149 121 2.4 2.4 2.8 2.3 2.5 2.0

Retail trade

765 817 801 708 847 729 4.8 5.2 5.1 4.5 5.4 4.6

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

226 241 236 240 235 251 3.7 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.8 4.1

Information

87 94 84 90 79 83 3.1 3.3 3.0 3.2 2.8 2.9

Financial activities

180 240 215 201 216 196 2.1 2.8 2.5 2.3 2.5 2.2

Finance and insurance

131 151 132 125 145 126 2.1 2.4 2.1 2.0 2.3 2.0

Real estate and rental and leasing

49 89 83 76 70 70 2.1 3.8 3.6 3.3 3.0 3.0

Professional and business services

1,116 1,145 1,168 1,099 1,121 1,113 5.3 5.3 5.4 5.1 5.2 5.1

Education and health services

652 633 655 662 664 677 2.7 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.8

Educational services

101 98 87 99 92 92 2.7 2.6 2.3 2.6 2.4 2.4

Health care and social assistance

551 535 568 564 572 585 2.7 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.8 2.8

Leisure and hospitality

1,007 1,110 1,125 1,097 1,073 1,174 6.1 6.6 6.7 6.5 6.3 6.9

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

153 159 154 174 177 203 6.3 6.5 6.2 7.0 7.1 8.0

Accommodation and food services

853 951 972 923 896 971 6.0 6.7 6.8 6.4 6.2 6.7

Other services

201 199 201 239 187 244 3.4 3.3 3.4 4.0 3.1 4.1

Government

347 347 344 370 348 336 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.5

Federal

44 40 41 54 44 41 1.6 1.4 1.4 1.9 1.5 1.5

State and local

304 307 304 316 305 295 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.5

State and local education

163 153 153 159 150 158 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.5

State and local, excluding education

141 154 151 156 155 138 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.5

REGION(3)

Northeast

820 914 863 923 910 879 3.0 3.3 3.1 3.3 3.3 3.1

South

2,197 2,287 2,301 2,114 2,155 2,297 4.0 4.1 4.1 3.8 3.9 4.1

Midwest

1,231 1,195 1,272 1,225 1,283 1,209 3.7 3.6 3.8 3.7 3.8 3.6

West

1,221 1,336 1,363 1,390 1,361 1,345 3.5 3.8 3.9 4.0 3.9 3.8

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 4. Quits levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

3,391 3,601 3,471 3,497 3,568 3,488 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.3

INDUSTRY

Total private

3,205 3,419 3,288 3,317 3,384 3,300 2.5 2.7 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.5

Mining and logging

22 14 11 13 14 13 2.9 1.9 1.5 1.7 1.9 1.7

Construction

185 182 187 184 167 169 2.5 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.2 2.2

Manufacturing

211 197 214 198 211 204 1.7 1.5 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.6

Durable goods

111 114 126 115 115 112 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.4 1.4

Nondurable goods

100 83 88 83 96 92 2.1 1.7 1.8 1.7 2.0 1.9

Trade, transportation, and utilities

715 777 731 663 842 731 2.6 2.8 2.6 2.4 3.0 2.6

Wholesale trade

89 87 80 64 91 74 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.1 1.5 1.2

Retail trade

493 554 522 465 616 505 3.1 3.5 3.3 2.9 3.9 3.2

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

133 136 129 134 135 153 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.5

Information

43 49 43 45 44 45 1.5 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.6

Financial activities

106 152 128 132 149 122 1.2 1.8 1.5 1.5 1.7 1.4

Finance and insurance

76 92 88 87 103 83 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.3

Real estate and rental and leasing(3)

31 61 41 45 46 40 1.3 2.6 1.7 1.9 1.9 1.7

Professional and business services

649 646 654 626 629 616 3.1 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.9 2.8

Education and health services

448 459 442 462 458 494 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.9 2.0

Educational services

52 56 50 63 55 64 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.6 1.4 1.7

Health care and social assistance

397 402 393 400 404 430 2.0 2.0 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.1

Leisure and hospitality

706 831 754 802 745 766 4.3 5.0 4.5 4.8 4.4 4.5

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

56 83 77 90 86 66 2.3 3.4 3.1 3.6 3.4 2.6

Accommodation and food services

650 748 677 712 659 700 4.6 5.3 4.7 5.0 4.6 4.9

Other services

120 113 124 192 126 141 2.0 1.9 2.1 3.2 2.1 2.4

Government

186 181 182 180 184 187 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8

Federal

20 18 18 18 17 18 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7

State and local

166 164 165 162 167 169 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9

State and local education

89 87 88 85 86 93 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9

State and local, excluding education

77 77 76 78 81 76 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8

REGION(4)

Northeast

464 546 468 507 479 464 1.7 2.0 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.7

South

1,423 1,440 1,369 1,349 1,444 1,446 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.6 2.6

Midwest

744 759 789 795 812 759 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.3

West

760 856 845 846 833 819 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.3

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)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

1,751 1,812 1,971 1,795 1,768 1,895 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2

INDUSTRY

Total private

1,653 1,709 1,871 1,674 1,669 1,819 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.4

Mining and logging

10 10 12 13 15 15 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.7 2.0 2.1

Construction

164 218 218 254 230 247 2.2 2.9 2.9 3.4 3.1 3.3

Manufacturing

111 104 112 106 100 111 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.9

Durable goods

51 57 65 64 65 69 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9

Nondurable goods

60 48 48 43 35 43 1.3 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.7 0.9

Trade, transportation, and utilities

360 368 400 355 305 304 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.1 1.1

Wholesale trade(3)

45 54 77 66 46 33 0.8 0.9 1.3 1.1 0.8 0.6

Retail trade

230 227 235 200 178 185 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.1 1.2

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

85 88 88 89 81 86 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.4

Information

38 38 36 38 33 31 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1

Financial activities

58 59 62 43 45 48 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.5

Finance and insurance

44 33 25 18 21 23 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.4

Real estate and rental and leasing

14 26 37 25 24 25 0.6 1.1 1.6 1.1 1.0 1.1

Professional and business services

406 441 456 416 436 451 1.9 2.1 2.1 1.9 2.0 2.1

Education and health services

155 137 178 165 170 142 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6

Educational services

42 36 33 29 32 23 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.6

Health care and social assistance

112 100 145 136 138 119 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6

Leisure and hospitality

279 257 335 249 299 371 1.7 1.5 2.0 1.5 1.8 2.2

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

96 71 72 79 86 133 3.9 2.9 2.9 3.2 3.4 5.3

Accommodation and food services

183 186 263 170 212 238 1.3 1.3 1.8 1.2 1.5 1.7

Other services

73 76 62 35 37 98 1.2 1.3 1.0 0.6 0.6 1.6

Government

98 102 100 121 98 76 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.3

Federal

9 10 9 25 12 9 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.9 0.4 0.3

State and local

89 93 91 96 86 67 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.3

State and local education

51 43 41 46 39 36 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3

State and local, excluding education

38 49 50 50 47 32 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.3

REGION(4)

Northeast

303 314 330 352 363 348 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.2

South

649 717 788 641 578 729 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.2 1.0 1.3

Midwest

407 375 406 351 394 378 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.1

West

392 406 446 450 432 441 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.3

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)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Aug.
2019
Sept.
2019
Oct.
2019
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

327 320 356 360 373 347 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

INDUSTRY

Total private

263 256 295 291 307 274 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Mining and logging

2 3 1 1 1 2 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

Construction(3)

21 16 22 17 29 19 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.3

Manufacturing

19 19 23 19 22 25 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Durable goods

13 12 13 14 15 17 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Nondurable goods(3)

6 6 10 5 7 9 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2

Trade, transportation, and utilities

59 58 73 69 85 66 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2

Wholesale trade

8 4 10 9 12 14 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Retail trade

41 37 44 42 53 40 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(3)

9 17 19 17 19 12 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2

Information(3)

6 6 6 8 3 6 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.2

Financial activities

15 28 25 26 22 26 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

Finance and insurance

11 26 19 20 21 21 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

Real estate and rental and leasing(3)

4 2 6 6 1 5 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.2

Professional and business services

61 58 59 57 57 46 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2

Education and health services

49 37 35 35 36 41 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2

Educational services

7 5 5 7 5 5 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1

Health care and social assistance(3)

42 33 30 28 30 36 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2

Leisure and hospitality

22 22 37 46 29 36 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2

Arts, entertainment, and recreation(3)

1 5 5 6 5 3 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1

Accommodation and food services(3)

21 16 32 40 25 33 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2

Other services(3)

9 10 15 13 24 6 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.1

Government

64 64 62 69 66 73 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

Federal

15 12 14 12 14 14 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.5

State and local

49 51 48 57 52 59 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3

State and local education

23 23 23 29 25 29 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3

State and local, excluding education

25 28 25 28 27 30 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

REGION(4)

Northeast

53 54 64 64 67 68 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

South

125 130 144 124 134 123 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2

Midwest

80 61 76 79 77 71 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

West

70 74 72 93 95 85 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.2

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)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

6,921 6,468 5,892 4.4 4.0 3.7

INDUSTRY

Total private

6,321 5,761 5,221 4.7 4.2 3.9

Mining and logging

29 22 14 3.8 2.8 1.8

Construction

299 217 239 3.9 2.8 3.1

Manufacturing

435 381 360 3.3 2.9 2.7

Durable goods

298 252 224 3.6 3.0 2.7

Nondurable goods

137 129 136 2.8 2.6 2.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,350 1,208 1,003 4.5 4.1 3.4

Wholesale trade

163 163 167 2.7 2.7 2.7

Retail trade

868 724 603 5.1 4.3 3.6

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

318 321 233 4.8 4.9 3.5

Information

123 136 113 4.1 4.5 3.8

Financial activities

373 343 298 4.1 3.8 3.3

Finance and insurance

310 241 231 4.7 3.6 3.5

Real estate and rental and leasing

63 102 68 2.7 4.2 2.8

Professional and business services

1,275 1,121 1,043 5.6 4.9 4.6

Education and health services

1,294 1,232 1,152 5.1 4.7 4.4

Educational services

91 146 112 2.3 3.5 2.8

Health care and social assistance

1,204 1,086 1,039 5.6 5.0 4.8

Leisure and hospitality

893 904 775 5.2 5.2 4.5

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

102 99 109 4.3 4.1 4.4

Accommodation and food services

791 805 666 5.4 5.3 4.5

Other services

250 197 225 4.1 3.2 3.7

Government

600 707 670 2.6 3.0 2.8

Federal

87 105 81 3.0 3.6 2.8

State and local

514 602 590 2.5 2.9 2.8

State and local education

210 214 211 1.9 1.9 1.9

State and local, excluding education

304 388 379 3.2 4.0 4.0

REGION(3)

Northeast

1,154 1,122 1,034 4.0 3.8 3.5

South

2,672 2,452 2,197 4.6 4.2 3.8

Midwest

1,619 1,445 1,276 4.6 4.1 3.6

West

1,476 1,449 1,385 4.1 3.9 3.8

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)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

4,210 5,401 4,367 2.8 3.5 2.8

INDUSTRY

Total private

3,991 5,108 4,159 3.1 3.9 3.2

Mining and logging

27 20 16 3.6 2.7 2.3

Construction

221 325 278 3.0 4.3 3.7

Manufacturing

233 281 218 1.8 2.2 1.7

Durable goods

123 166 126 1.5 2.1 1.6

Nondurable goods

110 115 92 2.3 2.4 1.9

Trade, transportation, and utilities

953 1,480 931 3.3 5.2 3.3

Wholesale trade

113 125 94 1.9 2.1 1.6

Retail trade

612 972 578 3.8 6.0 3.5

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

228 382 260 3.6 6.1 4.1

Information

60 87 59 2.1 3.0 2.1

Financial activities

138 200 155 1.6 2.3 1.8

Finance and insurance

96 126 98 1.5 2.0 1.5

Real estate and rental and leasing

42 74 56 1.9 3.2 2.4

Professional and business services

938 1,050 938 4.4 4.8 4.3

Education and health services

515 610 522 2.1 2.5 2.1

Educational services

68 76 57 1.8 1.9 1.4

Health care and social assistance

447 534 465 2.2 2.6 2.2

Leisure and hospitality

770 894 867 4.8 5.4 5.2

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

101 136 125 4.5 5.9 5.3

Accommodation and food services

668 758 742 4.8 5.3 5.2

Other services

135 162 175 2.3 2.7 2.9

Government

219 294 208 1.0 1.3 0.9

Federal

27 55 32 1.0 2.0 1.1

State and local

192 238 176 1.0 1.2 0.9

State and local education

95 112 77 0.9 1.0 0.7

State and local, excluding education

97 126 99 1.1 1.4 1.1

REGION(3)

Northeast

640 861 666 2.3 3.1 2.4

South

1,650 2,131 1,780 3.0 3.8 3.2

Midwest

949 1,230 907 2.9 3.6 2.7

West

971 1,179 1,014 2.8 3.3 2.9

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)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

5,139 5,032 5,394 3.4 3.3 3.5

INDUSTRY

Total private

4,842 4,779 5,110 3.8 3.7 3.9

Mining and logging

33 25 31 4.3 3.3 4.3

Construction

392 427 487 5.4 5.6 6.5

Manufacturing

287 280 289 2.2 2.2 2.2

Durable goods

143 159 166 1.8 2.0 2.1

Nondurable goods

144 121 123 3.0 2.5 2.6

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,195 1,102 1,131 4.2 3.9 3.9

Wholesale trade

124 129 106 2.1 2.2 1.8

Retail trade

807 759 730 5.0 4.7 4.5

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

263 214 295 4.2 3.4 4.6

Information

77 66 75 2.7 2.3 2.6

Financial activities

168 190 174 1.9 2.2 2.0

Finance and insurance

121 123 109 1.9 1.9 1.7

Real estate and rental and leasing

46 67 65 2.0 2.9 2.8

Professional and business services

1,111 1,018 1,109 5.2 4.7 5.1

Education and health services

557 531 579 2.3 2.1 2.3

Educational services

76 53 68 2.0 1.3 1.7

Health care and social assistance

481 478 511 2.4 2.3 2.5

Leisure and hospitality

858 978 1,019 5.3 5.9 6.1

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

118 190 169 5.2 8.2 7.2

Accommodation and food services

741 787 850 5.3 5.5 6.0

Other services

163 161 216 2.8 2.7 3.6

Government

297 253 284 1.3 1.1 1.2

Federal

45 43 45 1.6 1.5 1.6

State and local

253 210 238 1.3 1.0 1.2

State and local education

127 78 113 1.2 0.7 1.0

State and local, excluding education

126 133 125 1.4 1.4 1.4

REGION(3)

Northeast

801 820 863 2.9 2.9 3.1

South

1,956 1,832 2,068 3.5 3.3 3.7

Midwest

1,210 1,181 1,178 3.6 3.5 3.5

West

1,172 1,200 1,285 3.4 3.4 3.6

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)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

2,908 2,967 2,975 1.9 1.9 1.9

INDUSTRY

Total private

2,771 2,831 2,837 2.2 2.2 2.2

Mining and logging

18 10 10 2.4 1.4 1.3

Construction

157 131 138 2.1 1.7 1.9

Manufacturing

154 160 147 1.2 1.2 1.1

Durable goods

81 84 80 1.0 1.0 1.0

Nondurable goods

73 76 68 1.5 1.6 1.4

Trade, transportation, and utilities

657 738 662 2.3 2.6 2.3

Wholesale trade

72 73 57 1.2 1.2 1.0

Retail trade

448 535 442 2.7 3.3 2.7

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

138 129 163 2.2 2.1 2.6

Information

36 36 38 1.3 1.3 1.3

Financial activities

99 134 110 1.2 1.5 1.3

Finance and insurance

69 89 70 1.1 1.4 1.1

Real estate and rental and leasing

31 46 40 1.3 1.9 1.7

Professional and business services

583 548 547 2.7 2.5 2.5

Education and health services

377 368 423 1.6 1.5 1.7

Educational services

36 35 46 0.9 0.9 1.2

Health care and social assistance

341 332 378 1.7 1.6 1.8

Leisure and hospitality

597 603 644 3.7 3.6 3.9

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

40 62 47 1.8 2.7 2.0

Accommodation and food services

557 541 597 4.0 3.8 4.2

Other services

93 101 118 1.6 1.7 2.0

Government

137 136 138 0.6 0.6 0.6

Federal

18 18 18 0.6 0.6 0.6

State and local

119 118 120 0.6 0.6 0.6

State and local education

58 51 61 0.5 0.5 0.6

State and local, excluding education

61 67 60 0.7 0.7 0.6

REGION(3)

Northeast

404 395 391 1.5 1.4 1.4

South

1,182 1,173 1,206 2.1 2.1 2.2

Midwest

638 690 648 1.9 2.0 1.9

West

684 709 730 2.0 2.0 2.1

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)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

1,915 1,744 2,084 1.3 1.1 1.4

INDUSTRY

Total private

1,818 1,669 2,012 1.4 1.3 1.5

Mining and logging

12 13 20 1.7 1.8 2.7

Construction

214 267 329 2.9 3.5 4.4

Manufacturing

113 102 113 0.9 0.8 0.9

Durable goods

48 63 66 0.6 0.8 0.8

Nondurable goods

66 38 47 1.4 0.8 1.0

Trade, transportation, and utilities

485 288 406 1.7 1.0 1.4

Wholesale trade

45 46 33 0.8 0.8 0.6

Retail trade

323 176 252 2.0 1.1 1.5

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

116 66 121 1.8 1.0 1.9

Information

35 27 31 1.2 0.9 1.1

Financial activities

54 38 43 0.6 0.4 0.5

Finance and insurance

42 17 23 0.7 0.3 0.4

Real estate and rental and leasing

12 21 20 0.5 0.9 0.9

Professional and business services

471 422 524 2.2 1.9 2.4

Education and health services

133 131 116 0.6 0.5 0.5

Educational services

35 16 18 0.9 0.4 0.5

Health care and social assistance

97 115 97 0.5 0.6 0.5

Leisure and hospitality

239 345 339 1.5 2.1 2.0

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

77 123 119 3.4 5.3 5.1

Accommodation and food services

163 221 220 1.2 1.6 1.5

Other services

61 36 92 1.0 0.6 1.5

Government

97 75 72 0.4 0.3 0.3

Federal

10 14 12 0.4 0.5 0.4

State and local

87 61 60 0.4 0.3 0.3

State and local education

53 17 33 0.5 0.2 0.3

State and local, excluding education

34 44 27 0.4 0.5 0.3

REGION(3)

Northeast

352 376 409 1.3 1.3 1.5

South

647 528 739 1.2 0.9 1.3

Midwest

490 428 457 1.5 1.3 1.4

West

426 412 478 1.2 1.2 1.3

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)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)
Dec.
2018
Nov.
2019
Dec.
2019(p)

Total

316 321 335 0.2 0.2 0.2

INDUSTRY

Total private

253 279 261 0.2 0.2 0.2

Mining and logging

2 1 2 0.2 0.2 0.3

Construction

21 29 19 0.3 0.4 0.3

Manufacturing

21 18 29 0.2 0.1 0.2

Durable goods

14 11 21 0.2 0.1 0.3

Nondurable goods

6 7 9 0.1 0.1 0.2

Trade, transportation, and utilities

54 76 64 0.2 0.3 0.2

Wholesale trade

8 9 16 0.1 0.2 0.3

Retail trade

37 47 36 0.2 0.3 0.2

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

9 19 12 0.1 0.3 0.2

Information

6 3 6 0.2 0.1 0.2

Financial activities

14 19 22 0.2 0.2 0.3

Finance and insurance

10 18 17 0.2 0.3 0.3

Real estate and rental and leasing

4 1 5 0.2 0.0 0.2

Professional and business services

58 48 37 0.3 0.2 0.2

Education and health services

47 33 40 0.2 0.1 0.2

Educational services

5 2 4 0.1 0.1 0.1

Health care and social assistance

42 30 36 0.2 0.1 0.2

Leisure and hospitality

22 29 36 0.1 0.2 0.2

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

1 5 3 0.1 0.2 0.1

Accommodation and food services

21 25 33 0.1 0.2 0.2

Other services

9 24 6 0.2 0.4 0.1

Government

63 42 74 0.3 0.2 0.3

Federal

16 11 16 0.6 0.4 0.6

State and local

46 31 58 0.2 0.2 0.3

State and local education

16 10 20 0.1 0.1 0.2

State and local, excluding education

30 21 38 0.3 0.2 0.4

REGION(3)

Northeast

45 51 63 0.2 0.2 0.2

South

128 130 122 0.2 0.2 0.2

Midwest

81 63 74 0.2 0.2 0.2

West

62 78 77 0.2 0.2 0.2

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.


Last Modified Date: February 11, 2020