Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey News Release — 2019-02-12

The number of job openings reached a series high of 7.3 million on the last business day of December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and separations were little changed at 5.9 million and 5.5 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate was unchanged at 2.3 percent and the layoffs and discharges rate was little changed at 1.1 percent. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by industry and by four geographic regions. On the last business day of December, the job openings level reached a series high of 7.3 million. The job openings rate was 4.7 percent. The number of job openings edged up for total private (+198,000) and was little changed for government.