Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey News Release — 2018-07-10

The number of job openings edged down to 6.6 million on the last business day of May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and separations were little changed at 5.8 million and 5.5 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate and the layoffs and discharges rate were little changed at 2.4 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. 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 May, the job openings level edged down to 6.6 million from a revised April level of 6.8 million, a series high. The job openings rate was 4.3 percent. The number of job openings decreased for total private (-228,000) and was little changed for government.