Economic Jolt: Job Openings and Labor Turnover December 2012

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their latest monthly read of job availability and labor turnover (JOLT) showing that private non-farm job “openings” declined 4.96% since November but remained 2.16% above the level seen in December 2011 while private non-farm job “hires” declined a notable 4.77% from November remaining just 0.67% above the level seen in December 2011.

Job “layoffs and discharges” declined 8.17% from November falling 6.30% below the level seen last year while quitting activity declined 0.64% from November remaining 8.25% above the level seen in December 2011.

It’s important to understand that job “quits” are included as a component of the “separations” data series as “quitting” is a valid means of workers “separating” from employers but their inclusion tends to create an overall procyclical trend in what would otherwise be logically thought of as a countercyclical process (i.e. downturn leads to increase in separations not decrease).