Economic Jolt: Job Openings and Labor Turnover December 2011

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).