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Total separations rate at 3.4 percent in January 2024

March 11, 2024

The job openings rate was 5.3 percent in January 2024, while the hires rate was 3.6 percent. Both figures were essentially unchanged from the previous month, but were below the January 2023 rates of 6.3 percent for job openings and 4.1 percent for hires. The total separations rate was 3.4 percent for the third consecutive month in January 2024.

Total nonfarm job openings, hires, and total separations rates, January 2014–January 2024
Month Job openings rate Hires rate Total separations rate

Jan 2014

2.9 3.4 3.2

Feb 2014

3.1 3.4 3.3

Mar 2014

3.1 3.5 3.3

Apr 2014

3.2 3.5 3.3

May 2014

3.3 3.5 3.3

Jun 2014

3.5 3.5 3.3

Jul 2014

3.4 3.6 3.4

Aug 2014

3.7 3.5 3.3

Sep 2014

3.4 3.7 3.5

Oct 2014

3.5 3.7 3.5

Nov 2014

3.3 3.6 3.3

Dec 2014

3.5 3.7 3.4

Jan 2015

3.7 3.6 3.5

Feb 2015

3.7 3.6 3.5

Mar 2015

3.6 3.6 3.6

Apr 2015

3.8 3.7 3.5

May 2015

3.8 3.6 3.4

Jun 2015

3.6 3.6 3.5

Jul 2015

4.1 3.6 3.4

Aug 2015

3.7 3.6 3.5

Sep 2015

3.7 3.7 3.6

Oct 2015

3.9 3.7 3.5

Nov 2015

3.8 3.8 3.6

Dec 2015

3.9 3.9 3.7

Jan 2016

4.0 3.6 3.6

Feb 2016

3.9 3.8 3.7

Mar 2016

4.1 3.7 3.6

Apr 2016

3.9 3.7 3.6

May 2016

3.9 3.6 3.6

Jun 2016

3.8 3.7 3.6

Jul 2016

4.0 3.8 3.5

Aug 2016

3.8 3.7 3.6

Sep 2016

3.9 3.7 3.4

Oct 2016

3.7 3.6 3.5

Nov 2016

4.0 3.7 3.5

Dec 2016

3.9 3.7 3.5

Jan 2017

3.7 3.8 3.7

Feb 2017

3.9 3.7 3.5

Mar 2017

3.8 3.7 3.6

Apr 2017

4.0 3.6 3.5

May 2017

3.8 3.7 3.6

Jun 2017

4.1 3.8 3.7

Jul 2017

4.1 3.7 3.6

Aug 2017

4.1 3.8 3.6

Sep 2017

4.1 3.7 3.6

Oct 2017

4.2 3.8 3.7

Nov 2017

4.1 3.7 3.6

Dec 2017

4.1 3.7 3.6

Jan 2018

4.3 3.7 3.6

Feb 2018

4.2 3.8 3.6

Mar 2018

4.4 3.8 3.7

Apr 2018

4.4 3.8 3.7

May 2018

4.5 3.9 3.7

Jun 2018

4.6 3.9 3.7

Jul 2018

4.6 3.8 3.7

Aug 2018

4.6 3.9 3.7

Sep 2018

4.7 3.8 3.7

Oct 2018

4.7 4.0 3.7

Nov 2018

4.8 3.9 3.9

Dec 2018

4.8 3.9 3.7

Jan 2019

4.8 3.9 3.7

Feb 2019

4.5 3.8 3.8

Mar 2019

4.6 3.8 3.7

Apr 2019

4.6 4.0 3.8

May 2019

4.6 3.8 3.7

Jun 2019

4.6 3.8 3.7

Jul 2019

4.5 3.9 3.9

Aug 2019

4.5 3.9 3.7

Sep 2019

4.5 3.9 3.8

Oct 2019

4.6 3.8 3.7

Nov 2019

4.3 3.9 3.7

Dec 2019

4.2 3.9 3.8

Jan 2020

4.5 3.9 3.8

Feb 2020

4.4 3.9 3.8

Mar 2020

3.8 3.4 11.1

Apr 2020

3.4 3.1 8.8

May 2020

4.0 6.1 3.6

Jun 2020

4.3 5.4 3.7

Jul 2020

4.5 4.5 3.7

Aug 2020

4.3 4.3 3.4

Sep 2020

4.4 4.2 3.6

Oct 2020

4.6 4.3 3.8

Nov 2020

4.6 4.1 4.0

Dec 2020

4.5 3.9 3.9

Jan 2021

4.8 3.9 3.6

Feb 2021

5.2 4.1 3.8

Mar 2021

5.6 4.3 3.8

Apr 2021

6.0 4.3 3.9

May 2021

6.4 4.2 3.8

Jun 2021

6.6 4.5 3.9

Jul 2021

7.0 4.6 4.0

Aug 2021

6.9 4.3 4.0

Sep 2021

6.9 4.5 4.1

Oct 2021

7.1 4.5 3.9

Nov 2021

7.0 4.6 4.2

Dec 2021

7.1 4.4 4.1

Jan 2022

7.0 4.3 4.2

Feb 2022

7.2 4.5 4.0

Mar 2022

7.4 4.4 4.1

Apr 2022

7.2 4.3 4.1

May 2022

7.0 4.3 4.0

Jun 2022

6.9 4.2 3.9

Jul 2022

7.0 4.2 3.8

Aug 2022

6.2 4.2 4.0

Sep 2022

6.6 4.0 3.8

Oct 2022

6.4 4.0 3.8

Nov 2022

6.5 4.0 3.8

Dec 2022

6.7 4.0 3.9

Jan 2023

6.3 4.1 3.9

Feb 2023

6.0 3.9 3.8

Mar 2023

5.8 3.8 3.8

Apr 2023

6.0 3.8 3.6

May 2023

5.6 4.0 3.8

Jun 2023

5.5 3.8 3.6

Jul 2023

5.3 3.7 3.6

Aug 2023

5.6 3.8 3.6

Sep 2023

5.6 3.7 3.5

Oct 2023

5.2 3.7 3.6

Nov 2023

5.4 3.5 3.4

Dec 2023

5.3 3.7 3.4

Jan 2024

5.3 3.6 3.4

Job openings rates ranged from 7.7 percent in health care and social assistance to 3.1 percent in wholesale trade in January 2024. Retail trade had a job openings rate of 3.3 percent. In addition to health care and social assistance, job openings rates were above 6.0 percent in professional and business services (6.6 percent), information (6.5 percent), leisure and hospitality and other services (6.1 percent each).

Job openings, hires, and total separations rates by industry, January 2024
Industry Job openings rate Hires rate Total separations rate

Total nonfarm

5.3 3.6 3.4

Mining and logging

4.4 3.6 3.7

Construction

4.8 4.7 4.6

Manufacturing

4.6 3.0 2.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

3.5 3.7 3.5

Wholesale trade

3.1 2.8 2.7

Retail trade

3.3 3.9 3.5

Information

6.5 2.7 2.5

Financial activities

5.5 2.3 2.1

Professional and business services

6.6 4.8 4.7

Health care and social assistance

7.7 3.2 2.6

Leisure and hospitality

6.1 6.2 5.9

Other services

6.1 3.7 3.9

Government

3.8 1.6 1.4

Government was among the industries with the lowest hires rates and the lowest total separations rates, at 1.6 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. Leisure and hospitality was among those with the highest rates, at 6.2 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively.

Hires rates and total separations rates were also above 4.0 percent in professional and business services (4.8 percent hires rate, 4.7 percent total separations rate) and construction (4.7 percent hires rate, 4.6 percent total separations rate).

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 — January 2024." 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 rate at 3.4 percent in January 2024 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/total-separations-rate-at-3-4-percent-in-january-2024.htm (visited October 31, 2024).

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