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 1.84% since December but rose 21.49% above the level seen in January 2010 while private non-farm job “hires” declined a notable 4.90% since December remaining 4.29% above the level seen in January 2010 and job “layoffs and discharges” declined 7.62% since December dropping 9.94% 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).
