For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, November 10, 2009 USDL-09-1359
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Job Openings and Labor Turnover – September 2009
On the last business day of September, the number of job openings in
the U.S. was little changed at 2.5 million, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The hires
rate (3.1 percent) and the separations rate (3.3 percent) were
unchanged and remained low in September. 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.
Job Openings
The job openings rate was little changed in September at a rate of 1.9
percent. The number of job openings has fallen by 2.3 million, or 48
percent, since the most recent peak in June 2007. The job openings
rate decreased in state and local government in September and was
little changed in the remaining industries. The job openings rate
increased in the Midwest. (See table 1.)
Over the 12 months ending in September, the job openings rate (not
seasonally adjusted) decreased for total nonfarm, total private, and
government. The job openings rate also decreased in the following
industries: construction; durable goods manufacturing; nondurable
goods manufacturing; transportation, warehousing, and utilities;
health care and social assistance; accommodation and food services;
federal government; and state and local government. The job openings
rate decreased in 3 of the 4 regions—Midwest, South, and West. (See
table 5.)
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Table A. Job openings, hires, and total separations by industry, seasonally
adjusted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Job openings | Hires | Total separations
|--------------------------------------------------------------
Industry | Sept.| Aug. | Sept.| Sept.| Aug. | Sept.| Sept.| Aug. | Sept.
| 2008 | 2009 | 2009p| 2008 | 2009 | 2009p| 2008 | 2009 | 2009p
-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------
| Levels (in thousands)
|--------------------------------------------------------------
Total(1)...........|3,346 |2,423 |2,480 |4,505 |4,040 |4,010 |4,852 |4,284 |4,311
| | | | | | | | |
Total private(1)..|2,913 |2,128 |2,232 |4,263 |3,779 |3,758 |4,553 |3,976 |4,017
Construction.....| 152 | 65 | 62 | 365 | 297 | 353 | 412 | 342 | 421
Manufacturing....| 236 | 122 | 136 | 305 | 243 | 262 | 371 | 313 | 316
Trade, trans- | | | | | | | | |
portation, and | | | | | | | | |
utilities(2)....| 525 | 422 | 414 | 959 | 818 | 832 |1,046 | 850 | 864
Retail trade....| 297 | 273 | 268 | 649 | 557 | 525 | 684 | 567 | 548
Professional | | | | | | | | |
and business | | | | | | | | |
services........| 608 | 438 | 455 | 787 | 715 | 699 | 809 | 728 | 701
Education and | | | | | | | | |
health ser- | | | | | | | | |
vices...........| 624 | 520 | 547 | 506 | 538 | 524 | 488 | 509 | 513
Leisure and | | | | | | | | |
hospitality.....| 427 | 238 | 299 | 814 | 695 | 653 | 830 | 704 | 685
Arts, enter- | | | | | | | | |
tainment and | | | | | | | | |
recreation.....| 44 | 22 | 24 | 117 | 107 | 104 | 115 | 111 | 100
Accommodation | | | | | | | | |
and food | | | | | | | | |
services.......| 374 | 216 | 274 | 708 | 591 | 556 | 714 | 593 | 583
Government(3).....| 431 | 300 | 267 | 278 | 261 | 258 | 294 | 293 | 283
State and local | | | | | | | | |
government......| 352 | 269 | 221 | 259 | 233 | 235 | 280 | 271 | 263
|--------------------------------------------------------------
| Rates (percent)
|--------------------------------------------------------------
Total(1)...........| 2.4 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 3.3
| | | | | | | | |
Total private(1)..| 2.5 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.7
Construction.....| 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 7.0
Manufacturing....| 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.7
Trade, trans- | | | | | | | | |
portation, and | | | | | | | | |
utilities(2)....| 2.0 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 3.4
Retail trade....| 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 3.7
Professional | | | | | | | | |
and business | | | | | | | | |
services........| 3.3 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.2
Education and | | | | | | | | |
health ser- | | | | | | | | |
vices...........| 3.2 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.7
Leisure and | | | | | | | | |
hospitality.....| 3.1 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 6.1 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 5.3 | 5.2
Arts, enter- | | | | | | | | |
tainment and | | | | | | | | |
recreation.....| 2.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 6.0 | 5.7 | 5.4 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 5.2
Accommodation | | | | | | | | |
and food | | | | | | | | |
services.......| 3.2 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 6.2 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 6.2 | 5.3 | 5.2
Government(3).....| 1.9 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.3
State and local | | | | | | | | |
government......| 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Includes mining and logging, information, financial activities, and
other services, not shown separately.
2 Includes wholesale trade and transportation, warehousing, and utilities, not
shown separately.
3 Includes federal government, not shown separately.
p = preliminary.
Hires
The hires level was little changed at 4.0 million in September but has
declined by 1.6 million, or 29 percent, since its most recent peak in
July 2006. The hires rate was unchanged in September at 3.1 percent.
The hires rate increased in construction and was little changed in the
remaining industries and all four regions. (See table 2.)
Over the 12 months ending in September, the hires rate (not seasonally
adjusted) declined for total nonfarm, total private, and government.
The hires rate decreased over the 12 months for retail trade; finance
and insurance; accommodation and food services; and state and local
government. The rate increased for educational services. The hires
rate fell over the past 12 months in the Midwest and West. (See table
6.)
- 3 -
Separations
The total separations, or turnover, rate was unchanged in September
and remained low at 3.3 percent. The total separations rate (not
seasonally adjusted) decreased over the 12 months ending in September
for total nonfarm and total private. Total separations includes quits
(voluntary separations), layoffs and discharges (involuntary
separations), and other separations (including retirements). (See
tables 3 and 7.)
The quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or
ability to change jobs. The quits rate remained unchanged in September
at 1.4 percent. The quits level was 1.8 million in September, which is
43 percent lower than its most recent peak in December 2006. (See
table 4.)
Over the 12 months ending in September, the quits rate (not seasonally
adjusted) was lower for total nonfarm, total private, government, the
majority of industries, and the South, Midwest, and West regions. The
industries for which the quits rate was little changed over the year
include construction; nondurable goods manufacturing; information;
professional and business services; health care and social assistance;
other services; and federal government. (See table 8.)
The layoffs and discharges component of total separations is
seasonally adjusted at the total nonfarm, total private, and
government levels. The layoffs and discharges levels for total
nonfarm, total private, and government were little changed in
September at 2.1 million, 2.0 million, and 118,000 respectively. The
corresponding layoffs and discharges rates were 1.6 percent, 1.9
percent, and 0.5 percent. The number of layoffs and discharges at the
total nonfarm level in September was 35 percent higher than the most
recent trough in January 2006. (See table B below.)
The layoffs and discharges rate (not seasonally adjusted) was little
changed over the 12 months ending in September for total nonfarm and
total private, while the rate increased for government. The layoffs
and discharges rate rose in mining and logging; construction;
transportation, warehousing, and utilities; other services; federal
government; and state and local government. The rate decreased in
retail trade. The layoffs and discharges rate increased in the
Northeast. (See table 9.)
Table B. Layoffs and discharges by industry, seasonally adjusted
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| Levels (in thousands) | Rates
|------------------------------------------------
Industry | Sept.| Aug. | Sept.| Sept.| Aug. | Sept.
| 2008 | 2009 | 2009p| 2008 | 2009 | 2009p
-------------------|------------------------------------------------
Total..............| 1,910 | 2,248 | 2,141 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.6
Total private.....| 1,827 | 2,123 | 2,023 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 1.9
Government....... | 100 | 135 | 118 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.5
--------------------------------------------------------------------
p = preliminary.
The other separations series is not seasonally adjusted. In September,
there were 323,000 other separations for total nonfarm, 266,000 for
total private, and 57,000 for government. Compared to September 2008,
the number of other separations was little changed for total nonfarm,
total private, and government. (See table 10.)
The total separations level is influenced by the relative contribution
of its three components—quits, layoffs and discharges, and other
separations. The percentage of total separations at the total nonfarm
level attributable to the individual components has varied over time.
The proportion of separations due
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to quits declined from the most recent high of 59 percent in
January 2008 to a series low of 38 percent in April 2009. It then rose
slightly and stood at 42 percent in September 2009. The proportion of
separations due to layoffs and discharges reached a series high of
55 percent in July 2009 then dropped to 50 percent in September 2009.
(See tables 3 and 4, and table B above.)
Net Change in Employment
Over the 12 months ending in September, hires totaled 50.4 million and
separations totaled 55.6 million, yielding a net employment loss of
5.2 million.
___________________
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey results for October 2009
are scheduled to be released on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 10:00
a.m. (EST).
