Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey News Release — 2008-12-09

On the last business day of October, there were 3.1 million job openings in the United States, and the job openings rate was 2.2 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The job openings rate was little changed in October but continued to trend downward. The hires rate decreased slightly to 3.0 percent in October, while the total separations rate was little changed at 3.1 percent. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector by industry and geographic region. Although the month-to-month changes in job openings, hires, and turnover data are often small, the trends over time are notable. The job openings rate has declined for the past 13 months after remaining essentially flat from August 2006 through September 2007. For the third time in 2008, the hires rate was 3.0 percent in October.