Again, this is one of the two key employment situation reports issued by the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics; the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, which gives data on job openings, hires and fires and people quitting jobs. It is based on a survey of businesses that as is typical in recent years, has a relatively low response rate. The JOLTS data is typically a month behind the employment reports, so in the first week of a month we will typically get the employment numbers for the prior month, but the JOLTS data is a month earlier. BLS data can be easily found here. (BLS Release)
The highlight of yesterday’s release is that openings remain strong, indicating that employers are feeling good about future business prospects. Total job openings in the US are 7.6 million, essentially unchanged from the April number. Private job openings were also little changed while there was a slight uptick in state and local government openings. Not a lot of dramatic moves in any private job categories; a little growth in construction, retail and wholesale trade and manufacturing and in the volatile leisure and hospitality sector. A bigger drop in health care and social assistance, some reduction in finance and insurance.
Not much change in hires or quits or firings. Not surprisingly, more hiring in a category tends to mean fewer openings and vice versa. More separations, whether via quits or firing, tends to be related to more openings. The quit rate sometimes is viewed as an indicator of how strong the job market is, as people will be more likely to move jobs when the job market is booming. Pretty much a solid report showing no signs of stress in the labor market. There was some increase in layoffs or firings in construction and in trade, which is a little surprising given the AI data center boom. There was no notable change in professional services or finance or other areas where artifical intelligence will supposedly be taking jobs.
