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The job openings rate has trended upward slowly since the end of the recession in June 2009 (as determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research).
Although the number of job openings remained below the 4.4 million openings when the recession began in December 2007, the level in August was 944,000 higher than in July 2009 (the most recent trough).
In August, the seasonally adjusted hires and separations rates for total nonfarm were little changed at 3.1 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively.
The number of hires in August was 4.0 million, up from 3.6 million in October 2009 (the most recent trough) but below the 5.0 million hires recorded when the recession began in December 2007.
These data are from the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, and are seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see "Job Opening and Labor Turnover – August 2011" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-1468. The total separations figure includes voluntary quits, involuntary layoffs, and discharges, and other separations, including retirements. Total separations is also referred to as turnover.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Job openings, hires, and separations rates in August 2011 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2011/ted_20111017.htm (visited October 31, 2024).