Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary

For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Monday, July 3, 2023	USDL-14-1672

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                    JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – June 2024

There were 4.7 million job openings on the last business day of July, little changed from June, the U.S. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The hires rate (3.5 percent) and the separations rate (3.3 
percent) were unchanged in July. Within separations, the quits rate (1.8 percent) and the layoffs and 
discharges rate (1.2 percent) were unchanged. 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. 

//JOLTS Resilio TEST via ZUNI3 11/14/2024//

There were 4.7 million job openings on the last business day of July and the rate was 3.3 percent. The 
1-month change in the number of openings was not significant for total private, government, all 
industries, and in all four regions. (See table 1.) Although the number of total nonfarm job openings was 
little changed in July, there were 799,000 more job openings in July than in January 2014. The largest 
increases since January were in retail trade, professional and business services, and health care and 
social assistance. 

The number of job openings (not seasonally adjusted) increased over the 12 months ending in July 2014 
for total nonfarm, total private, and government. The job openings level increased in several of the 
industries and in all four regions. (See table 7.)

Hires

There were 4.9 million hires in July, little changed from June and the rate was 3.5 percent. The number 
of hires was little changed for total private and government and in all four regions. Hires increased over 
the month in construction. (See table 2.)

Over the 12 months ending in July, the number of hires (not seasonally adjusted) increased for total 
nonfarm and total private and was little changed for government. The hires level increased over the year 
for construction and retail trade but decreased for educational services. The number of hires increased in 
the South region. (See table 8.)

Separations

Total separations includes quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Total separations is 
referred to as turnover. Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, 
the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and 
discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. Other separations include separations 
due to retirement, death, and disability, as well as transfers to other locations of the same firm.

There were 4.6 million total separations in July and the rate was 3.3 percent. The number of 
separations was little changed from June for total nonfarm, total private, and government. (See table 3.)

The number of quits was little changed in July at 2.5 million. The quits rate measured 1.8 percent for the 
sixth month in a row. The number of quits was also little changed in July for total private, government, 
all industries, and all four regions. (See table 4.)

The quits level (not seasonally adjusted) increased over the 12 months ending in July for total nonfarm 
and total private and was little changed for government. Over the year, the number of quits increased for 
several industries and in the Midwest and West regions. (See table 10.)

The number of layoffs and discharges was little changed in July at 1.7 million. The rate measured 1.2 
percent in July for the eighth month in a row. The number of layoffs and discharges was little changed 
over the month for total private and fell for government. The number was little changed in all four 
regions. (See table 5.) Seasonally adjusted estimates of layoffs and discharges are not available for 
individual industries.

The layoffs and discharges level (not seasonally adjusted) was little changed over the 12 months 
ending in July for total nonfarm, total private, and government. The number of layoffs and discharges 
decreased over the year for finance and insurance and for educational services. The number was little 
changed in all four regions over the year. (See table 11.)

In July, there were 382,000 other separations for total nonfarm, little changed from June. Over the 
month, the number of other separations was little changed for total private at 319,000 and for 
government at 64,000. (See table 6.) Seasonally adjusted estimates of other separations are not available 
for individual industries or regions.

Over the 12 months ending in July, the number of other separations (not seasonally adjusted) was little 
changed for total nonfarm, total private, and government. (See table 12.)

Net Change in Employment

Large numbers of hires and separations occur every month throughout the business cycle. Net 
employment change results from the relationship between hires and separations. When the number of 
hires exceeds the number of separations, employment rises, even if the hires level is steady or declining. 
Conversely, when the number of hires is less than the number of separations, employment declines, even 
if the hires level is steady or rising. Over the 12 months ending in July 2014, hires totaled 56.0 million 
and separations totaled 53.5 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.5 million. These figures 
include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey results for March 2023 are scheduled to be 
released on Tuesday, June 6, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).