Economic Jolt: Job Openings and Labor Turnover April 2011

Yesterday, 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 4.87% since March but climbed 10.89% above the level seen in April 2010 while private non-farm job “hires” declined 2.55% from March but 2.68% above the level seen in April 2010

Job “layoffs and discharges” declined 5.66% from March while dropping 3.28% below the level seen last year while quitting activity continues to declined 4.01% from March but remaining 6.85% above the level seen in April 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).