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Quits rise while layoffs and discharges fall in 2016
March 22, 2017
There were 36.1 million quits in the nonfarm sector in 2016, an increase from 2015. The number of layoffs and discharges, at 19.9 million in 2016, declined from 2015. There were 62.7 million hires in the nonfarm sector in 2016, essentially the same as the number of hires in 2015 but well above the 46.2 million hires in 2009.
Annual hires and separations, 2001–16, not seasonally adjusted
Year
Hires
Total
separations
Layoffs and
discharges
Quits
Other
separations
2001
62,727,000
64,560,000
24,271,000
35,784,000
4,506,000
2002
58,416,000
58,942,000
22,719,000
31,655,000
4,566,000
2003
56,919,000
56,961,000
23,420,000
29,251,000
4,292,000
2004
60,236,000
58,224,000
22,584,000
31,444,000
4,201,000
2005
63,089,000
60,633,000
22,151,000
34,380,000
4,102,000
2006
63,491,000
61,284,000
20,856,000
35,692,000
4,731,000
2007
62,239,000
60,984,000
21,997,000
34,718,000
4,270,000
2008
54,764,000
58,209,000
23,969,000
30,391,000
3,850,000
2009
46,190,000
51,358,000
26,557,000
21,112,000
3,689,000
2010
48,659,000
47,649,000
21,703,000
22,051,000
3,897,000
2011
50,253,000
48,214,000
20,756,000
23,581,000
3,877,000
2012
52,332,000
50,131,000
20,942,000
25,142,000
4,047,000
2013
54,320,000
51,932,000
19,888,000
27,715,000
4,327,000
2014
58,657,000
55,587,000
20,398,000
30,582,000
4,605,000
2015
62,050,000
59,275,000
20,954,000
33,718,000
4,603,000
2016
62,719,000
60,419,000
19,911,000
36,091,000
4,418,000
The quits rate, 25.0 percent of employment in 2016, rose for the seventh consecutive year. The layoffs and discharges rate, 13.8 percent of employment in 2016, fell over the year and was well below the most recent peak of 20.2 percent in 2009. The annual rate of other separations—which include retirements, transfers to other locations, deaths, and separations due to disability—was 3.1 percent in 2016, essentially the same as in recent years. The hires rate in 2016 was 43.5 percent of nonfarm employment, essentially the same as in 2015.
United States Department of Labor
