For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, February 1, 2023 USDL-23-0148
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 2022
The number of job openings increased to 11.0 million on the last business day of December, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, the number of hires and total separations
changed little at 6.2 million and 5.9 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (4.1 million) and
layoffs and discharges (1.5 million) changed little. This release includes estimates of the number and
rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector, by industry, and by
establishment size class.
Job Openings
On the last business day of December, the number and rate of job openings increased to 11.0 million
and 6.7 percent, respectively. In December, the largest increases in job openings were in accommodation
and food services (+409,000), retail trade (+134,000), and construction (+82,000). The number of job
openings decreased in information (-107,000). (See table 1.)
Hires
In December, the number and rate of hires changed little at 6.2 million and 4.0 percent, respectively.
Hires changed little in all industries. (See table 2.)
Separations
Total separations includes quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. 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 changed little at 5.9 million, and the rate remained
unchanged at 3.8 percent. The number of total separations decreased in transportation, warehousing, and
utilities (-67,000). (See table 3.)
In December, the number of quits was little changed at 4.1 million, and the rate was unchanged at 2.7
percent. Quits decreased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-69,000) but increased in other
services (+65,000). (See table 4.)
In December, the number and rate of layoffs and discharges changed little at 1.5 million and 1.0
percent, respectively. Layoffs and discharges decreased in finance and insurance (-43,000) but increased
in federal government (+4,000). (See table 5.)
The number of other separations was little changed in December at 336,000. Other separations
increased in retail trade (+29,000) and in health care and social assistance (+19,000). Other separations
decreased in state and local government, excluding education (-10,000) and in educational services
(-6,000). (See table 6.)
Establishment Size Class
In December, the job openings rate increased in establishments with 50 to 249 employees but decreased
in establishments with 5,000 or more employees. The total separations rate increased in establishments
with 10 to 49 employees but decreased in establishments with 50 to 249 employees and 250 to 999
employees. The quits rate increased in establishments with 10 to 49 employees but decreased in
establishments with 50 to 249 employees and 250 to 999 employees. For a more in-depth description of
the JOLTS establishment size class estimates, please visit www.bls.gov/jlt/sizeclassmethodology.htm.
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The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey estimates for January 2023 are scheduled to be
released on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|Upcoming Changes to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey Data |
|Effective with the release of January 2023 data on March 8, 2023, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover |
|Survey (JOLTS) estimates will be revised to incorporate the annual updates to the Current Employment |
|Statistics employment data and the JOLTS seasonal adjustment factors. Not seasonally adjusted data and |
|seasonally adjusted data from January 2018 forward are subject to revision. In accordance with annual |
|practice, additional historical data may be revised as a result of the benchmark process. Also effective |
|with this release, JOLTS is adopting the 2022 version of the North American Industry Classification |
|System (NAICS), which has a minimal impact on the published JOLTS data series. For more |
|information on the 2022 NAICS, visit www.census.gov/naics. |
| |
|Also effective with the release of January data, JOLTS will begin publishing two new tables presenting |
|annual average job openings levels and rates. (Annual estimates of levels and rates are published each |
|year with January data.) In addition, JOLTS will modify its method for calculating annual estimates for |
|hires and separations rates. Annual rates will be computed as annual averages, instead of annual totals, |
|to make the estimates more helpful for data users and to be consistent with other Bureau of Labor |
|Statistics programs. |
| |
|JOLTS will introduce several changes to the monthly news release tables beginning with the news |
|release for January data. Two tables displaying JOLTS data by size class will be added to the news |
|release: one for seasonally adjusted estimates and the other for not seasonally adjusted estimates. JOLTS|
|will also introduce over-the-month change columns for levels and rates to tables 1 through 6. To |
|accommodate the new tables, tables starting with table 7 will be renumbered. |
| |
|Additional information about these changes, including the annual average calculation method and |
|sample table shells for all news release tables, is available at www.bls.gov/jlt/jolts-2023-changes.htm. |
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United States Department of Labor
