New job openings decrease
Private job openings declined 1.57 percent since October, and layoffs increased 5.68 percent
This chart shows the annual and monthly change in private sector job openings since 2004. Opeanings have been climbing steadily since bottoming out in 2009, but still remain well below pre-recession levels.
SoldAtTheTop
Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their latest monthly read of job availability and labor turnover (JOLT) showing that private non-farm job “openings” declined 1.57% since October climbing 6.82% above the level seen in November 2010 while private non-farm job “hires” increased 2.11% from October and rose 5.37% above the level seen in November 2010.
Job “layoffs and discharges” increased 5.68% from October falling 1.19% below the level seen last year while quitting activity increased 1.83% from October remaining 11.37% above the level seen in November 2010.
It’s important to understand that job “quits” are included as a component of the “separations” data series as “quitting” is a valid means of workers “separating” from employers but their inclusion tends to create an overall procyclical trend in what would otherwise be logically thought of as a countercyclical process (i.e. downturn leads to increase in separations not decrease).