Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey News Release — 2013-03-12

There were 3.7 million job openings on the last business day of January, little changed from December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The hires rate (3.1 percent) and separations rate (3.0 percent) also were little changed in January. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by industry and by geographic region. The release also includes 2012 annual estimates for hires and separations. The annual levels for hires and quits increased in 2012 while the annual total for layoffs and discharges was about the same as in 2011. The number of job openings in January was 3.7 million, little changed from December. (See table 1.) The number of openings rose in professional and business services but decreased in health care and social assistance; the number was little changed in all remaining industries and in all four regions in January.