Job openings little changed at 5.0 million in January; hires and separations up in 2014

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Omaha Steve has the thread over in LBN: US job openings reach a 14-year high, and more workers quit

Job openings little changed at 5.0 million in January; hires and separations up in 2014

Economic News Release

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, March 10, 2015 USDL-15-0385

Technical information: [phone] • [e-mail] • www.bls.gov/jlt
Media contact: [phone] • [e-mail]

JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – JANUARY 2015

There were 5.0 million job openings on the last business day of January, little changed from 4.9 million in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires decreased to 5.0 million in January and separations were little changed at 4.8 million. Within separations, the quits rate was little changed at 2.0 percent and the layoffs and discharges rate was unchanged at 1.2 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. The release also includes 2014 annual estimates for hires and separations. The annual number of hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations increased in 2014.

Job Openings

There were 5.0 million job openings on the last business day of January, little changed from December. This was the highest level of job openings since January 2001. The job openings rate for January was 3.4 percent. The number of job openings was little changed for total private and government in January. Job openings increased for accommodation and food services and in the West region. (See table 1.)

Job Openings Rise to the Highest Level in 14 Years

10:35 am ET
Mar 10, 2015
Economy

By Josh Zumbrun

Employers across the U.S. had 5 million job openings at the end of January, the most since January 2001, providing further hope that the labor market is on the mend.

Openings have been rising across a range of industries, according to the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, known as Jolts. Professional and business services, health care and accommodation and food services have seen openings rise; mining and logging, which includes the beleaguered U.S. oil industry, has seen openings decline.

The level of hiring declined slightly in January, falling to 5 million from 5.2 million in December. The total number of people leaving their job declined slightly, too–separations fell to 4.8 million from 4.9 million.



The Labor Department’s main jobs report shows the net change in jobs—a gain of 295,000 in February—but the Jolts report digs one level deeper, cataloging the millions of workers each month who quit a job or are laid off, retire, start a new job or switch jobs.