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 5.09% since July but remaining 7.86% above the level seen in August 2010 while private non-farm job “hires” increase 0.59% from July climbing 3.53% above the level seen in August 2010Job “layoffs and discharges” declined 1.27% from July but climbing a slight 0.26% above the level seen last year while quitting activity increased 3.81% from July and 10.6% above the level seen in August 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).
