BLS U S Bureau of Labor Statistics : Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey

For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, January 10, 2017 USDL-17-0033 Technical information: [phone] • [e-mail] • www.bls.gov/jlt

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JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER - NOVEMBER 2016

The number of job openings was little changed at 5.5 million on the last business day of November, the

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and separations were also little changed at 5.2 million and 5.0 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate was unchanged at

2.1 percent and the layoffs and discharges rate was unchanged at 1.1 percent. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by industry and by four geographic regions.

Chart 1. Job openings rate, seasonally adjusted, November 2013 - November 2016

Percent

4.4

4.2

4.0

3.8

3.6

3.4

Chart 2. Hires and total separations rates, seasonally adjusted, November 2013 - November 2016

Percent

4.4

4.2

4.0

3.8

3.6

3.4

3.2

3.0

2.8

2.6

2.4

2.2

3.2

3.0

2.8

2.6

2.4

2.2

Hires Separations

2.0

Nov-13 Feb-14 May-14 Aug-14 Nov-14 Feb-15 May-15 Aug-15 Nov-15 Feb-16 May-16 Aug-16 Nov-16

2.0

Nov-13 Feb-14 May-14 Aug-14 Nov-14 Feb-15 May-15 Aug-15 Nov-15 Feb-16 May-16 Aug-16 Nov-16

Job Openings

On the last business day of November, there were 5.5 million job openings, little changed from October. The job openings rate was 3.7 percent in November. The number of job openings was little changed for total private and increased for government (+48,000). Job openings increased in state and local government, excluding education (+32,000), and state and local government education (+17,000). The number of job openings was little changed in all four regions. (See table 1.)

Hires

The number of hires was essentially unchanged at 5.2 million in November. The hires rate was 3.6 percent. The number of hires was little changed for total private and for government. Hires increased in state and local government education (+19,000) but decreased in retail trade (-71,000). Hires was little changed in all four regions. (See table 2.)

Separations

Total separations includes quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Total separations is referred to as turnover. Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers' willingness or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. Other separations includes separations due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.

There were 5.0 million total separations in November, little changed from October. The total separations rate in November was 3.5 percent. The number of total separations was little changed for total private and for government. Total separations were little changed in all industries and in all four regions. (See table 3.)

The number of quits was little changed in November at 3.1 million. The quits rate was 2.1 percent. Over the month, the number of quits was little changed for total private and for government. Quits increased in construction (+32,000), wholesale trade (+20,000), and educational services (+9,000). The number of quits was little changed in all four regions. (See table 4.)

There were 1.6 million layoffs and discharges in November, essentially unchanged from October. The layoffs and discharges rate was unchanged at 1.1 percent in November. The number of layoffs and discharges was little changed for total private and for government. The layoffs and discharges levels were little changed in all industries and all four regions. (See table 5.)

In November, the number of other separations edged down for total nonfarm (-47,000) and for total private (-43,000). Other separations was little changed for government. Other separations decreased in retail trade (-27,000) and mining and logging (-3,000). The number of other separations decreased in the Midwest region (-28,000). (See table 6.)

Net Change in Employment

Large numbers of hires and separations occur every month throughout the business cycle. Net employment change results from the relationship between hires and separations. When the number of hires exceeds the number of separations, employment rises, even if the hires level is steady or declining. Conversely, when the number of hires is less than the number of separations, employment declines, even if the hires level is steady or rising. Over the 12 months ending in November, hires totaled 62.7 million and separations totaled 60.3 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.4 million. These totals include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey results for December 2016 are scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. (EST).

- 2 -

Table A. Job openings, hires, and total separations by industry, seasonally adjusted

Category	Job openings			Hires			Total separations
	Nov. 2015	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016p	Nov. 2015	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016p	Nov. 2015	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016p
LEVELS BY INDUSTRY (in thousands) Total.................................................. . Total private...................................... . Mining and logging1........................... . Construction1.................................. . Manufacturing................................. . Durable goods1............................. . Nondurable goods1......................... . Trade, transportation, and utilities. . . . . . . . . . . Wholesale trade1........................... . Retail trade.................................. . Transportation, warehousing, and utilities1.................................... . Information1.................................... . Financial activities............................. . Finance and insurance.................... . Real estate and rental and leasing1. . . . . . Professional and business services. . . . . . . . . Education and health services.............. . Educational services1...................... . Health care and social assistance. . . . . . . . Leisure and hospitality....................... . Arts, entertainment, and recreation. . . . . . . Accommodation and food services. . . . . . . Other services1................................ . Government...................................... . Federal1........................................ . State and local................................ . State and local education................. . State and local, excluding education1. . . . RATES BY INDUSTRY (percent) Total.................................................. . Total private...................................... . Mining and logging1........................... . Construction1.................................. . Manufacturing................................. . Durable goods1............................. . Nondurable goods1......................... . Trade, transportation, and utilities. . . . . . . . . . . Wholesale trade1........................... . Retail trade.................................. . Transportation, warehousing, and utilities1.................................... . Information1.................................... . Financial activities............................. . Finance and insurance.................... . Real estate and rental and leasing1. . . . . . Professional and business services. . . . . . . . . Education and health services.............. . Educational services1...................... . Health care and social assistance. . . . . . . . Leisure and hospitality....................... . Arts, entertainment, and recreation. . . . . . . Accommodation and food services. . . . . . . Other services1................................ .	5,198	5,451	5,522	5,253	5,160	5,219	4,958	4,966	5,028
	4,725	4,951	4,972	4,904	4,804	4,848	4,616	4,631	4,682
	15	14	17	21	32	31	35	33	27
	101	193	184	340	331	335	292	311	325
	238	320	324	278	274	275	267	269	275
	138	197	185	153	159	160	154	157	162
	100	123	139	126	114	115	113	113	113
	861	1,024	1,021	1,085	1,083	1,012	1,040	1,046	1,045
	128	181	183	134	132	131	127	121	134
	527	653	653	766	739	668	744	736	705
	205	190	186	186	212	213	169	189	207
	68	76	76	71	71	70	79	72	70
	356	331	332	208	170	170	190	156	157
	312	257	268	137	106	110	136	98	116
	44	74	64	71	63	60	54	59	41
	1,126	980	984	1,056	1,043	1,060	1,020	1,016	1,020
	1,113	1,159	1,120	661	646	650	600	591	592
	89	90	87	102	75	84	97	68	71
	1,023	1,069	1,033	559	571	566	503	523	520
	732	670	725	992	972	1,041	939	965	996
	64	82	82	131	148	145	130	149	143
	668	589	643	861	824	896	809	815	853
	116	182	189	190	183	205	154	173	174
	473	501	549	349	356	371	342	334	346
	72	82	81	45	42	41	42	33	37
	401	419	468	304	314	330	300	302	309
	160	131	148	157	134	153	160	137	150
	241	288	320	148	180	178	140	165	159
	3.5	3.6	3.7	3.7	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.4	3.5
	3.8	3.9	3.9	4.1	3.9	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.8
	1.9	2.0	2.4	2.8	4.7	4.5	4.6	4.9	4.0
	1.5	2.8	2.7	5.2	4.9	5.0	4.5	4.6	4.8
	1.9	2.5	2.6	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.2	2.2	2.2
	1.8	2.5	2.4	2.0	2.1	2.1	2.0	2.0	2.1
	2.1	2.6	2.9	2.7	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.4	2.5
	3.1	3.6	3.6	4.0	4.0	3.7	3.8	3.8	3.8
	2.1	3.0	3.0	2.3	2.2	2.2	2.2	2.0	2.2
	3.2	3.9	3.9	4.9	4.6	4.2	4.7	4.6	4.4
	3.6	3.4	3.3	3.4	3.9	3.9	3.1	3.4	3.8
	2.4	2.7	2.7	2.6	2.5	2.5	2.9	2.6	2.5
	4.2	3.8	3.8	2.5	2.0	2.0	2.3	1.9	1.9
	4.9	4.0	4.2	2.3	1.7	1.8	2.2	1.6	1.9
	2.0	3.3	2.9	3.4	2.9	2.8	2.6	2.7	1.9
	5.4	4.6	4.6	5.3	5.1	5.2	5.1	5.0	5.0
	4.7	4.8	4.7	3.0	2.8	2.8	2.7	2.6	2.6
	2.5	2.5	2.4	2.9	2.1	2.4	2.8	1.9	2.0
	5.2	5.3	5.1	3.0	3.0	2.9	2.7	2.7	2.7
	4.6	4.1	4.4	6.5	6.2	6.7	6.1	6.2	6.4
	2.8	3.5	3.5	5.9	6.6	6.5	5.9	6.7	6.4
	4.8	4.2	4.6	6.6	6.2	6.7	6.2	6.1	6.4
	2.0	3.1	3.2	3.4	3.2	3.6	2.7	3.0	3.0

See footnotes at end of table.

Table A. Job openings, hires, and total separations by industry, seasonally adjusted - Continued

Category	Job openings			Hires			Total separations
	Nov. 2015	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016p	Nov. 2015	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016p	Nov. 2015	Oct. 2016	Nov. 2016p
Government...................................... .	2.1	2.2	2.4	1.6	1.6	1.7	1.6	1.5	1.6
Federal1........................................ .	2.5	2.8	2.8	1.6	1.5	1.4	1.5	1.2	1.3
State and local................................ .	2.0	2.1	2.4	1.6	1.6	1.7	1.6	1.6	1.6
State and local education................. .	1.5	1.3	1.4	1.5	1.3	1.5	1.6	1.3	1.5
State and local, excluding education1. . . .	2.6	3.1	3.4	1.6	2.0	1.9	1.6	1.8	1.7

1 No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted series.

p Preliminary