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” jumped a notable 14.10% since January climbing 27.79% above the level seen in February 2010 while private non-farm job “hires” increased a notable 4.33% since January climbing 4.65% above the level seen in February 2010 and job “layoffs and discharges” increased 2.14% since January while dropping 8.99% 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).
