Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey News Release — 2020-11-10

The number of job openings was little changed at 6.4 million on the last business day of September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Hires and total separations were little changed at 5.9 million and 4.7 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate was little changed at 2.1 percent while the layoffs and discharges rate decreased to a series low of 0.9 percent. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total nonfarm sector, by industry, and by four geographic regions. In September, the number and rate of hires were little changed at 5.9 million and 4.1 percent, respectively. Hires decreased in federal government (-256,000), largely due to a drop in demand for temporary 2020 Census workers. Hires also decreased in retail trade (-105,000) and educational services (-23,000).