Job openings and labor turnover in September 2011

On a seasonally adjusted basis, there were 3.4 million job openings on the last business day of September, and the job openings rate was 2.5 percent. The job openings rate has trended upward since the end of the recession in June 2009.

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The hires rate, at 3.2 percent, was little changed in September. The separations rate, which includes voluntary quits, involuntary layoffs and discharges, and other separations such as retirements, was also little changed, at 3.2 percent over the month. The separations rate is also referred to as labor turnover.

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The number of hires in September was 4.2 million, up from 3.6 million in October 2009 (the most recent trough), but below the 5.0 million hires recorded when the recession began in December 2007.

These data are from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. To learn more, see "Job Openings and Labor Turnover — September 2011" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-11-1610.