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 a notable 8.76% since November but rose 23.71% above the level seen in December 2009 while private non-farm job “hires” declined 0.61% since November remaining 4.52% above the level seen in December 2009 and job “layoffs and discharges” increased 2.16% since November dropping 12.43% below the level seen last year.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).
