Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey News Release — 2020-03-17

The number of job openings rose to 7.0 million (+411,000) on the last business day of January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and separations were little changed at 5.8 million and 5.6 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 total nonfarm sector, by industry, and by four geographic regions. The release also includes 2019 annual estimates for hires and separations. The annual number of hires at 69.9 million and the annual number of quits at 42.1 million increased in 2019. The annual number of layoffs and discharges at 21.7 million edged down in 2019. In January, the number and rate of hires was little changed at 5.8 million and 3.8 percent, respectively.