- Prior month 7.673M revised to 7.711M
- Job openings 8.040M.
- Vacancy rate 4.8% versus 4.6% last month
- Quits rate 1.9% versus 2.0% last month (revised from 2.1%)
- Separations rate 3.1% versus 3.2% last month
Details:
1.3 million fewer openings than the previous year
Increases in construction (+138,000) and local government (+78,000) job openings
Decrease in other services (-93,000) job openings
US Hires in August:
5.3 million hires (no significant change)
Hire rate remained at 3.3% (no significant change)
The hiring market remained stable in August.
Total Separations:
5.0 million (no significant change)
Rate decreased to 3.1%
Increased in professional/business services (+149,000)
Decreased in accommodation/food services (-111,000) and state/local government (-25,000)
Quits:
3.1 million (-159,000)
Rate remained at 1.9%
Decreased in transportation/warehousing/utilities (-45,000); arts/entertainment/recreation (-18,000); and private education (-11,000)
Layoffs/Discharges:
1.6 million (no significant change)
Rate remained at 1.0%
Decreased in healthcare/social assistance (-52,000)
Other Separations:
304,000 (no significant change)
The data indicates a slight decrease in overall separations and quits, while layoffs/discharges remained stable.
The JOLTs good and bad is the job openings increased but off the lowest level going back to March 2021. The job openings are -1.3M lower than the previous year.
The quits rate remained steady at 1.9%. Other measures were fairly steady.
Recall before the report last month, Feds Waller did say if the vacancy rate fell below 4.5% it would indicate that the slack in the labor is being absorbed. The vacancy rate last month fell to 4.6% from 4.8%. That rate is back up to 4.8% this month. That is less worrisome for employment.