U.S. job openings increase in January, hires drop

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) published by the Labor Department on Tuesday revealed a 6.3 percent m-o-m advance in the U.S. job openings in January 2020 after a revised 3.5 percent m-o-m drop in December 2019.

According to the report, employers posted 6.963 million job openings in January, compared to the December figure of 6.552 million (revised from 6.423 million in original estimate) and economists' expectations of 6.476 million. The job openings rate was 4.4 percent in December, up from a revised 4.1 percent in the prior month. The report showed that job openings rose in finance and insurance (+65,000 jobs), federal government (+38,000), and mining and logging (+8,000). The job openings level increased for total private (+370,000) and edged up for government (+40,000).

Meanwhile, the number of hires fell by 1.7 percent m-o-m to 5.824 million in January from a revised 5.927 in December. The hiring rate edged down to 3.8 percent from 3.9 percent in December. The hires level was little changed in all industries.

The separation rate in January was 5.614 million or 3.7 percent, compared to 5.762 million or 3.8 percent in December. Within separations, the quits rate was 2.3 percent (flat m-o-m), and the layoffs rate was 1.1 percent (-0.1 pp m-o-m).