Job openings increase
Private job “openings” increased 8.79 percent since November, climbing 20.36 percent above the level seen in December 2010.
This chart shows the monthly and annual change in private sector job openings since 2004. The number of openings has been recovering steadily since plummeting in 2009.
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” increased 8.79% since November climbing 20.36% above the level seen in December 2010 while private non-farm job “hires” declined 2.28% from November but rose 3.69% above the level seen in December 2010.
Job “layoffs and discharges” declined 4.74% from November falling 1.36% below the level seen last year while quitting activity declined 2.45% from November remaining 3.41% above the level seen in December 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).