Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey News Release — 2010-02-09

There were 2.5 million job openings on the last business day of December 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The job openings rate was little changed over the month at 1.9 percent. The job openings rate has held relatively steady since March 2009. The hires rate (3.1 percent) and the separations rate (3.2 percent) were essentially unchanged in December. 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. The job openings rate was little changed in December at 1.9 percent. The rate has been 1.8 percent or 1.9 percent since March 2009. In December, the job openings rate increased in state and local government and decreased in the Midwest. (See table 1.) Over the 12 months ending in December, the job openings rate (not seasonally adjusted) decreased for total nonfarm and total private and was unchanged in government.