Yesterday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their latest monthly read of job availability and labor turnover (JOLT) showing that private non-farm job “openings” increased slightly rising 0.83% since April and climbing 9.66% above the level seen in May 2010 while private non-farm job “hires” increased 1.71% from April and 5.09% above the level seen in May 2010Job “layoffs and discharges” jumped a whopping 13.21% from April increasing 0.18% above the level seen last year while quitting activity increased 6.60% from April and 4.39% above the level seen in May 2010.
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).
