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Total separations decreased to 5.3 million in November 2023

January 05, 2024

The number of total separations decreased to 5.3 million (−292,000), and the rate was little changed at 3.4 percent. Total separations include quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Quits (3.5 million) edged down, while layoffs and discharges (1.5 million) and other separations (342,000) changed little over the month.

Job openings, hires, and separations levels, November 2008–November 2023
Month Total nonfarm job openings Total nonfarm hires Total nonfarm separations

Nov 2008

3,231,000 4,104,000 4,819,000

Dec 2008

3,146,000 4,348,000 4,875,000

Jan 2009

2,738,000 4,095,000 4,865,000

Feb 2009

2,864,000 4,061,000 4,852,000

Mar 2009

2,534,000 3,858,000 4,720,000

Apr 2009

2,295,000 3,888,000 4,690,000

May 2009

2,549,000 3,758,000 4,192,000

Jun 2009

2,503,000 3,639,000 4,234,000

Jul 2009

2,232,000 3,857,000 4,235,000

Aug 2009

2,338,000 3,810,000 3,985,000

Sep 2009

2,487,000 3,944,000 4,126,000

Oct 2009

2,406,000 3,838,000 3,996,000

Nov 2009

2,503,000 4,024,000 4,002,000

Dec 2009

2,568,000 4,004,000 4,099,000

Jan 2010

2,837,000 3,904,000 3,940,000

Feb 2010

2,666,000 3,864,000 4,011,000

Mar 2010

2,679,000 4,302,000 4,089,000

Apr 2010

3,153,000 4,159,000 3,945,000

May 2010

2,988,000 4,420,000 3,924,000

Jun 2010

2,801,000 4,111,000 4,311,000

Jul 2010

3,082,000 4,163,000 4,269,000

Aug 2010

2,999,000 4,046,000 4,054,000

Sep 2010

2,918,000 4,034,000 4,045,000

Oct 2010

3,235,000 4,173,000 3,884,000

Nov 2010

3,211,000 4,182,000 4,067,000

Dec 2010

3,058,000 4,299,000 4,142,000

Jan 2011

3,104,000 4,000,000 4,001,000

Feb 2011

3,226,000 4,231,000 4,037,000

Mar 2011

3,261,000 4,430,000 4,142,000

Apr 2011

3,259,000 4,296,000 3,991,000

May 2011

3,179,000 4,261,000 4,189,000

Jun 2011

3,455,000 4,366,000 4,173,000

Jul 2011

3,623,000 4,261,000 4,153,000

Aug 2011

3,329,000 4,298,000 4,173,000

Sep 2011

3,774,000 4,429,000 4,208,000

Oct 2011

3,619,000 4,370,000 4,150,000

Nov 2011

3,565,000 4,365,000 4,267,000

Dec 2011

3,768,000 4,356,000 4,084,000

Jan 2012

3,909,000 4,457,000 4,158,000

Feb 2012

3,616,000 4,560,000 4,349,000

Mar 2012

3,979,000 4,575,000 4,277,000

Apr 2012

3,793,000 4,389,000 4,333,000

May 2012

3,835,000 4,533,000 4,437,000

Jun 2012

3,911,000 4,440,000 4,382,000

Jul 2012

3,735,000 4,327,000 4,151,000

Aug 2012

3,809,000 4,450,000 4,318,000

Sep 2012

3,882,000 4,302,000 4,092,000

Oct 2012

3,775,000 4,389,000 4,261,000

Nov 2012

3,878,000 4,489,000 4,347,000

Dec 2012

3,970,000 4,452,000 4,118,000

Jan 2013

3,923,000 4,487,000 4,347,000

Feb 2013

4,004,000 4,571,000 4,293,000

Mar 2013

4,076,000 4,369,000 4,241,000

Apr 2013

3,988,000 4,572,000 4,422,000

May 2013

4,145,000 4,663,000 4,442,000

Jun 2013

4,150,000 4,440,000 4,307,000

Jul 2013

3,885,000 4,561,000 4,421,000

Aug 2013

4,085,000 4,730,000 4,493,000

Sep 2013

4,128,000 4,726,000 4,519,000

Oct 2013

4,222,000 4,518,000 4,350,000

Nov 2013

4,119,000 4,622,000 4,367,000

Dec 2013

4,121,000 4,614,000 4,392,000

Jan 2014

4,127,000 4,626,000 4,435,000

Feb 2014

4,373,000 4,696,000 4,549,000

Mar 2014

4,388,000 4,763,000 4,518,000

Apr 2014

4,566,000 4,880,000 4,597,000

May 2014

4,747,000 4,808,000 4,572,000

Jun 2014

4,982,000 4,925,000 4,612,000

Jul 2014

4,846,000 5,008,000 4,748,000

Aug 2014

5,349,000 4,810,000 4,623,000

Sep 2014

4,914,000 5,149,000 4,855,000

Oct 2014

5,012,000 5,111,000 4,937,000

Nov 2014

4,843,000 4,978,000 4,682,000

Dec 2014

5,130,000 5,192,000 4,827,000

Jan 2015

5,344,000 5,061,000 4,886,000

Feb 2015

5,466,000 5,127,000 4,869,000

Mar 2015

5,210,000 5,126,000 5,102,000

Apr 2015

5,598,000 5,196,000 4,944,000

May 2015

5,563,000 5,142,000 4,825,000

Jun 2015

5,248,000 5,125,000 4,978,000

Jul 2015

6,056,000 5,150,000 4,848,000

Aug 2015

5,467,000 5,163,000 5,032,000

Sep 2015

5,488,000 5,287,000 5,110,000

Oct 2015

5,773,000 5,338,000 5,032,000

Nov 2015

5,708,000 5,358,000 5,089,000

Dec 2015

5,845,000 5,540,000 5,225,000

Jan 2016

6,012,000 5,220,000 5,099,000

Feb 2016

5,770,000 5,470,000 5,265,000

Mar 2016

6,129,000 5,359,000 5,133,000

Apr 2016

5,803,000 5,294,000 5,110,000

May 2016

5,777,000 5,197,000 5,176,000

Jun 2016

5,742,000 5,281,000 5,118,000

Jul 2016

5,962,000 5,426,000 5,065,000

Aug 2016

5,677,000 5,327,000 5,204,000

Sep 2016

5,868,000 5,306,000 4,985,000

Oct 2016

5,591,000 5,210,000 5,125,000

Nov 2016

5,971,000 5,308,000 5,139,000

Dec 2016

5,964,000 5,343,000 5,071,000

Jan 2017

5,617,000 5,499,000 5,320,000

Feb 2017

5,923,000 5,350,000 5,176,000

Mar 2017

5,811,000 5,395,000 5,280,000

Apr 2017

6,091,000 5,272,000 5,091,000

May 2017

5,826,000 5,477,000 5,270,000

Jun 2017

6,305,000 5,635,000 5,463,000

Jul 2017

6,238,000 5,497,000 5,338,000

Aug 2017

6,276,000 5,519,000 5,334,000

Sep 2017

6,320,000 5,450,000 5,289,000

Oct 2017

6,408,000 5,581,000 5,397,000

Nov 2017

6,271,000 5,494,000 5,283,000

Dec 2017

6,336,000 5,421,000 5,249,000

Jan 2018

6,621,000 5,512,000 5,288,000

Feb 2018

6,552,000 5,624,000 5,319,000

Mar 2018

6,818,000 5,623,000 5,500,000

Apr 2018

6,877,000 5,590,000 5,441,000

May 2018

7,016,000 5,859,000 5,492,000

Jun 2018

7,230,000 5,760,000 5,566,000

Jul 2018

7,190,000 5,649,000 5,577,000

Aug 2018

7,208,000 5,815,000 5,543,000

Sep 2018

7,411,000 5,625,000 5,494,000

Oct 2018

7,304,000 5,907,000 5,602,000

Nov 2018

7,594,000 5,826,000 5,793,000

Dec 2018

7,489,000 5,768,000 5,554,000

Jan 2019

7,517,000 5,814,000 5,521,000

Feb 2019

7,072,000 5,680,000 5,703,000

Mar 2019

7,337,000 5,698,000 5,557,000

Apr 2019

7,191,000 6,011,000 5,766,000

May 2019

7,311,000 5,725,000 5,542,000

Jun 2019

7,139,000 5,768,000 5,586,000

Jul 2019

7,051,000 5,886,000 5,795,000

Aug 2019

7,172,000 5,914,000 5,631,000

Sep 2019

7,160,000 5,973,000 5,727,000

Oct 2019

7,325,000 5,805,000 5,603,000

Nov 2019

6,919,000 5,868,000 5,674,000

Dec 2019

6,709,000 5,913,000 5,828,000

Jan 2020

7,184,000 6,014,000 5,714,000

Feb 2020

6,995,000 5,998,000 5,779,000

Mar 2020

5,794,000 5,172,000 16,313,000

Apr 2020

4,686,000 4,052,000 11,542,000

May 2020

5,581,000 8,098,000 4,757,000

Jun 2020

6,119,000 7,488,000 5,171,000

Jul 2020

6,514,000 6,255,000 5,195,000

Aug 2020

6,360,000 5,938,000 4,879,000

Sep 2020

6,512,000 5,949,000 5,118,000

Oct 2020

6,820,000 6,135,000 5,362,000

Nov 2020

6,875,000 5,906,000 5,718,000

Dec 2020

6,854,000 5,598,000 5,644,000

Jan 2021

7,175,000 5,647,000 5,164,000

Feb 2021

7,760,000 5,864,000 5,382,000

Mar 2021

8,399,000 6,105,000 5,494,000

Apr 2021

9,288,000 6,170,000 5,714,000

May 2021

9,840,000 6,036,000 5,508,000

Jun 2021

10,069,000 6,543,000 5,737,000

Jul 2021

10,882,000 6,555,000 5,841,000

Aug 2021

10,960,000 6,415,000 5,839,000

Sep 2021

10,882,000 6,629,000 6,067,000

Oct 2021

11,368,000 6,667,000 5,927,000

Nov 2021

11,232,000 6,843,000 6,227,000

Dec 2021

11,826,000 6,632,000 6,131,000

Jan 2022

11,487,000 6,496,000 6,235,000

Feb 2022

11,601,000 6,800,000 6,071,000

Mar 2022

12,027,000 6,577,000 6,194,000

Apr 2022

11,755,000 6,572,000 6,175,000

May 2022

11,443,000 6,545,000 6,025,000

Jun 2022

10,961,000 6,448,000 5,991,000

Jul 2022

11,380,000 6,340,000 5,864,000

Aug 2022

10,198,000 6,478,000 6,244,000

Sep 2022

10,854,000 6,226,000 5,810,000

Oct 2022

10,471,000 6,164,000 5,846,000

Nov 2022

10,746,000 6,253,000 5,945,000

Dec 2022

11,234,000 6,251,000 5,906,000

Jan 2023

10,563,000 6,327,000 5,900,000

Feb 2023

9,974,000 6,150,000 5,841,000

Mar 2023

9,745,000 6,066,000 5,994,000

Apr 2023

10,320,000 6,101,000 5,660,000

May 2023

9,616,000 6,231,000 5,925,000

Jun 2023

9,165,000 5,940,000 5,691,000

Jul 2023

8,920,000 5,822,000 5,638,000

Aug 2023

9,497,000 5,850,000 5,687,000

Sep 2023

9,350,000 5,904,000 5,595,000

Oct 2023

8,852,000 5,828,000 5,632,000

Nov 2023

8,790,000 5,465,000 5,340,000

Note: Data are seasonally adjusted.

On the last business day of November, the number of job openings changed little at 8.8 million, down from a series high of 12.0 million in March 2022. The job openings rate was unchanged at 5.3 percent. The number of hires decreased to 5.5 million (−363,000) in November, and the rate was little changed at 3.5 percent.

These data are from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey and are seasonally adjusted. Data for the most recent month are preliminary. To learn more, see "Job Openings and Labor Turnover — November 2023." We also have more charts of job openings, hires, and separations data

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Total separations decreased to 5.3 million in November 2023 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/total-separations-decreased-to-5-3-million-in-november-2023.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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