Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Economic News Release
PRINT:Print
JOLTS JLT Program Links

Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, February 12, 2019	USDL-19-0240

Technical information:  (202) 691-5870  •  JoltsInfo@bls.gov  •  www.bls.gov/jlt
Media contact:	        (202) 691-5902  •  PressOffice@bls.gov

                         JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – DECEMBER 2018

The number of job openings reached a series high of 7.3 million on the last business day of December, 
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and separations were little 
changed at 5.9 million and 5.5 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate was unchanged at 
2.3 percent and the layoffs and discharges rate was little changed at 1.1 percent. This release includes 
estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by 
industry and by four geographic regions.

Job Openings

On the last business day of December, the job openings level reached a series high of 7.3 million. The 
job openings rate was 4.7 percent. The number of job openings edged up for total private (+198,000) and 
was little changed for government. Job openings increased in a number of industries, with the largest 
increases in construction (+88,000), accommodation and food services (+84,000), and health care and 
social assistance (+79,000). The job openings level decreased in a number of industries, with the largest 
decreases in nondurable goods manufacturing (-37,000), federal government (-32,000), and real estate 
and rental and leasing (-31,000). Job openings was little changed in all four regions. (See table 1.)

Hires

The number of hires was little changed at 5.9 million in December. The hires rate was 3.9 percent. The 
hires level was little changed for total private and for government. Hires increased in retail trade 
(+126,000), educational services (+19,000), and mining and logging (+9,000). Hires decreased in 
information (-22,000) and in federal government (-10,000). The number of hires increased in the 
Midwest region. (See table 2.)

Separations

Total separations includes quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Total separations is 
referred to as turnover. Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, 
the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and 
discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. Other separations includes separations 
due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.

The number of total separations was little changed at 5.5 million in December. The total separations 
rate was 3.7 percent. The number of total separations was little changed for total private and for 
government. Total separations increased in federal government (+8,000). The number of total 
separations was little changed in all four regions. (See table 3.)

The number of quits was little changed in December at 3.5 million. The quits rate was 2.3 percent. The 
quits level was little changed for total private but decreased for government (-18,000). Quits increased in 
professional and business services (+60,000) and in health care and social assistance (+49,000). Quits 
decreased in a number of industries, with the largest decrease in other services (-42,000). The number of 
quits was little changed in all four regions. (See table 4.)

The number of layoffs and discharges was little changed in December at 1.7 million. The layoffs and 
discharges rate was 1.1 percent. The layoffs and discharges level was little changed for total private and 
for government. Layoffs and discharges increased in retail trade (+56,000) and in federal government 
(+4,000). The number of layoffs and discharges was little changed in all four regions. (See table 5.)

The number of other separations edged up (+50,000) in December. The other separations level also 
edged up for total private (+47,000) and was little changed for government. Other separations increased 
in professional and business services (+23,000), health care and social assistance (+21,000), and other 
services (+15,000). Other separations decreased in arts, entertainment, and recreation (-4,000). The 
number of other separations increased in the Midwest region. (See table 6.)

Net Change in Employment
Large numbers of hires and separations occur every month throughout the business cycle. Net 
employment change results from the relationship between hires and separations. When the number of 
hires exceeds the number of separations, employment rises, even if the hires level is steady or declining. 
Conversely, when the number of hires is less than the number of separations, employment declines, even 
if the hires level is steady or rising. Over the 12 months ending in December, hires totaled 68.5 million 
and separations totaled 65.9 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.6 million. These totals 
include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.
____________
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey results for January 2019 are scheduled to be 
released on Friday, March 15, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
|                         Upcoming Revisions and Methodology Change                                |
|                                                                                                  |
|As part of an annual process, the January 2019 data release on March 15, 2019, will incorporate   |
|the annual updates to the Current Employment Statistics employment estimates and the JOLTS        |
|seasonal adjustment factors. Unadjusted data and seasonally adjusted data from December 2000      |
|forward are subject to revision. Additionally, a new methodology for item imputation will be      |
|implemented.                                                                                      |
|__________________________________________________________________________________________________|

Table A. Job openings, hires, and total separations by industry, seasonally adjusted
Category Job openings Hires Total separations
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

LEVELS BY INDUSTRY
(in thousands)


Total

5,669 7,166 7,335 5,516 5,812 5,907 5,314 5,563 5,545

Total private

5,143 6,509 6,707 5,173 5,440 5,555 4,959 5,203 5,204

Mining and logging(1)

20 32 30 31 32 41 31 32 35

Construction(1)

149 294 382 321 377 384 291 389 370

Manufacturing

374 495 428 348 377 352 337 366 325

Durable goods(1)

239 322 292 201 206 183 189 204 173

Nondurable goods(1)

135 173 136 147 170 169 148 161 152

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,087 1,412 1,346 1,076 1,179 1,246 1,050 1,116 1,139

Wholesale trade(1)

188 207 191 148 189 155 143 168 151

Retail trade

707 908 864 698 732 858 686 721 767

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(1)

192 297 290 230 259 233 221 227 222

Information(1)

103 130 129 83 91 69 88 85 74

Financial activities

332 402 368 187 206 194 172 190 174

Finance and insurance

253 305 302 122 131 125 121 129 126

Real estate and rental and leasing(1)

79 97 66 65 75 70 51 61 47

Professional and business services

874 1,262 1,344 1,218 1,101 1,177 1,180 1,071 1,150

Education and health services

1,107 1,229 1,314 666 761 812 626 713 740

Educational services(1)

84 93 98 111 109 128 98 107 91

Health care and social assistance

1,023 1,137 1,216 556 652 684 529 606 649

Leisure and hospitality

902 1,026 1,147 1,021 1,082 1,082 981 1,037 1,026

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

90 98 135 153 169 158 142 163 160

Accommodation and food services

812 928 1,012 869 913 924 839 874 867

Other services(1)

196 226 220 222 234 198 204 205 172

Government

526 657 628 343 371 352 354 359 340

Federal(1)

81 116 84 20 49 39 36 36 44

State and local

445 541 544 322 323 313 319 324 296

State and local education

165 216 217 167 171 163 165 174 162

State and local, excluding education(1)

280 325 328 155 152 150 153 149 135





RATES BY INDUSTRY
(percent)


Total

3.7 4.6 4.7 3.7 3.9 3.9 3.6 3.7 3.7

Total private

3.9 4.9 5.0 4.1 4.3 4.3 4.0 4.1 4.1

Mining and logging(1)

2.8 4.1 3.8 4.4 4.2 5.4 4.5 4.3 4.6

Construction(1)

2.1 3.9 4.9 4.5 5.2 5.2 4.1 5.3 5.0

Manufacturing

2.9 3.7 3.2 2.8 2.9 2.7 2.7 2.9 2.5

Durable goods(1)

3.0 3.9 3.5 2.6 2.6 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.1

Nondurable goods(1)

2.8 3.5 2.8 3.1 3.6 3.5 3.1 3.4 3.2

Trade, transportation, and utilities

3.8 4.8 4.6 3.9 4.2 4.5 3.8 4.0 4.1

Wholesale trade(1)

3.1 3.3 3.1 2.5 3.1 2.6 2.4 2.8 2.5

Retail trade

4.3 5.4 5.1 4.4 4.6 5.4 4.3 4.5 4.8

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(1)

3.2 4.7 4.6 4.0 4.3 3.9 3.8 3.8 3.7

Information(1)

3.6 4.5 4.4 3.0 3.3 2.5 3.2 3.1 2.7

Financial activities

3.8 4.5 4.1 2.2 2.4 2.3 2.0 2.2 2.0

Finance and insurance

3.9 4.6 4.5 1.9 2.1 2.0 1.9 2.0 2.0

Real estate and rental and leasing(1)

3.4 4.1 2.8 2.9 3.3 3.1 2.3 2.7 2.1

Professional and business services

4.1 5.6 5.9 5.9 5.2 5.5 5.7 5.0 5.4

Education and health services

4.5 4.9 5.2 2.8 3.2 3.4 2.7 3.0 3.1

Educational services(1)

2.2 2.4 2.6 3.0 2.9 3.4 2.6 2.9 2.4

Health care and social assistance

4.9 5.4 5.7 2.8 3.2 3.4 2.7 3.0 3.2

Leisure and hospitality

5.3 5.9 6.5 6.3 6.6 6.6 6.0 6.3 6.2

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

3.7 3.9 5.3 6.5 7.1 6.6 6.0 6.8 6.7

Accommodation and food services

5.5 6.2 6.7 6.3 6.5 6.5 6.1 6.2 6.1

Other services(1)

3.3 3.7 3.6 3.8 4.0 3.4 3.5 3.5 2.9

Government

2.3 2.9 2.7 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.5

Federal(1)

2.8 4.0 2.9 0.7 1.7 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.6

State and local

2.2 2.7 2.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.5

State and local education

1.6 2.0 2.0 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.6

State and local, excluding education(1)

3.0 3.4 3.4 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.6 1.5

Footnotes
(1) No regular seasonal movements could be identified in the job openings series, therefore, the seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted data are identical.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Total nonfarm, government, and federal government data in this table have been corrected for the months January 2011 through March 2018.


Technical Note


This news release presents statistics from the Job Openings and Labor
Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects
and compiles JOLTS data monthly from a sample of nonfarm
establishments. A more detailed discussion of JOLTS concepts and
methodology is available online at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch18.pdf.

Coverage and collection

The JOLTS program covers all private nonfarm establishments, as well
as federal, state, and local government entities in the 50 states and
the District of Columbia. Data are collected for total employment, job
openings, hires, quits, layoffs and discharges, other separations, and
total separations.

Concepts

Industry classification.  The industry classifications in this release
are in accordance with the 2017 version of the North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS).

Employment.  Employment includes persons on the payroll who worked or
received pay for the pay period that includes the 12th day of the
reference month. Full-time, part-time, permanent, short-term,
seasonal, salaried, and hourly employees are included, as are
employees on paid vacations or other paid leave. Proprietors or
partners of unincorporated businesses, unpaid family workers, or
persons on leave without pay or on strike for the entire pay period,
are not counted as employed. Employees of temporary help agencies,
employee leasing companies, outside contractors, and consultants are
counted by their employer of record, not by the establishment where
they are working.

Job openings.  Job openings information is collected for the last
business day of the reference month. A job opening requires that: 1) a
specific position exists and there is work available for that
position, 2) work could start within 30 days whether or not the
employer found a suitable candidate, and 3) the employer is actively
recruiting from outside the establishment to fill the position.
Included are full-time, part-time, permanent, short-term, and seasonal
openings. Active recruiting means that the establishment is taking
steps to fill a position by advertising in newspapers or on the
Internet, posting help-wanted signs, accepting applications, or using
other similar methods.

Jobs to be filled only by internal transfers, promotions, demotions,
or recall from layoffs are excluded. Also excluded are jobs with start
dates more than 30 days in the future, jobs for which employees have
been hired but have not yet reported for work, and jobs to be filled
by employees of temporary help agencies, employee leasing companies,
outside contractors, or consultants. The job openings rate is computed
by dividing the number of job openings by the sum of employment and
job openings and multiplying that quotient by 100.

Hires.  The hires level is the total number of additions to the
payroll occurring at any time during the reference month, including
both new and rehired employees, full-time and part-time, permanent,
short-term and seasonal employees, employees recalled to the location
after a layoff lasting more than 7 days, on-call or intermittent
employees who returned to work after having been formally separated,
and transfers from other locations. The hires count does not include
transfers or promotions within the reporting site, employees returning
from strike, employees of temporary help agencies or employee leasing
companies, outside contractors, or consultants. The hires rate is
computed by dividing the number of hires by employment and multiplying
that quotient by 100.

Separations.  The separations level is the total number of employment
terminations occurring at any time during the reference month, and is
reported by type of separation—quits, layoffs and discharges, and
other separations. (Some respondents are only able to report total
separations.) The quits count includes voluntary separations by
employees (except for retirements, which are reported as other
separations). The layoffs and discharges count is comprised of
involuntary separations initiated by the employer and includes layoffs
with no intent to rehire; formal layoffs lasting or expected to last
more than 7 days; discharges resulting from mergers, downsizing, or
closings; firings or other discharges for cause; terminations of
permanent or short-term employees; and terminations of seasonal
employees. The other separations count includes retirements, transfers
to other locations, deaths, and separations due to disability. The
separations count does not include transfers within the same location
or employees on strike. The separations rate is computed by dividing
the number of separations by employment and multiplying that quotient
by 100. The quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations rates
are computed similarly.

Annual estimates.  Annual levels for hires, quits, layoffs and
discharges, other separations, and total separations are the sum of
the 12 published monthly levels. Annual rates are computed by dividing
the annual level by the Current Employment Statistics (CES) annual
average employment level, and multiplying that quotient by 100. This
figure will be approximately equal to the sum of the 12 monthly rates.
Consistent with BLS practice, annual estimates are published only for
not seasonally adjusted data and are released with the January news
release each year. Annual estimates are not calculated for job
openings because job openings are a stock, or point-in-time,
measurement for the last business day of each month.

Sample and estimation methodology

The JOLTS survey design is a stratified random sample of 16,000
nonfarm business and government establishments. The sample is
stratified by ownership, region, industry sector, and establishment
size class. The establishments are drawn from a universe of over 9.1
million establishments compiled by the Quarterly Census of Employment
and Wages (QCEW) program which includes all employers subject to state
unemployment insurance laws and federal agencies subject to the
Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees program.

JOLTS total employment estimates are benchmarked, or ratio adjusted,
monthly to the strike-adjusted employment estimates of the CES survey.
A ratio of CES to JOLTS employment is used to adjust the levels for
all other JOLTS data elements.

JOLTS business birth/death model

As with any sample survey, the JOLTS sample can only be as current as
its sampling frame. The time lag from the birth of an establishment
until its appearance on the sampling frame is approximately one year.
In addition, many of these new units may fail within the first year.
Since these universe units cannot be reflected on the sampling frame
immediately, the JOLTS sample cannot capture job openings, hires, and
separations from these units during their early existence. To
compensate for the inability to capture data from these
establishments, BLS has developed a birth/death model that uses birth
and death activity from previous years. The estimates of job openings,
hires, and separations produced by the birth/death model are added to
the sample-based estimates produced from the survey to arrive at the
estimates for openings, hires, and separations.

Seasonal adjustment

BLS uses X-13 ARIMA to seasonally adjust several JOLTS series
utilizing moving averages as seasonal filters. A concurrent seasonal
adjustment methodology is used in which new seasonal adjustment
factors are calculated each month, using all relevant data, up to and
including current month data. JOLTS seasonal adjustment includes both
additive and multiplicative models and REGARIMA (regression with auto-
correlated errors) modeling to improve the seasonal adjustment factors
at the beginning and end of the series and to detect and adjust for
outliers in the series.

Alignment procedure

The JOLTS measures for hires minus separations can be used to derive a
measure of net employment change. This change should be comparable to
the net employment change from the much larger CES survey. However,
definitional differences as well as sampling and nonsampling errors
between the two surveys historically caused JOLTS to diverge from CES
over time. To limit the divergence, and improve the quality of the
JOLTS hires and separations series, BLS implemented the Monthly
Alignment Method.

This method applies the CES employment trends to the seasonally
adjusted JOLTS implied employment trend (hires minus separations)
forcing them to be approximately the same, while preserving the
seasonality of the JOLTS data. First, the two series are seasonally
adjusted and the difference between the JOLTS implied employment
change and the CES net employment change is calculated. Next, the
JOLTS implied employment change is adjusted to equal the CES net
employment change through a proportional adjustment. This procedure
adjusts the two components (hires, separations) proportionally to
their contribution to the total churn (hires plus separations). The
adjusted hires and separations are converted back to not seasonally
adjusted data by reversing the application of the original seasonal
factors. After the Monthly Alignment Method has been used to adjust
the level estimates, rate estimates are computed from the adjusted
levels.

Reliability of the estimates

JOLTS estimates are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error.
When a sample is surveyed rather than the entire population, there is
a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true"
population values they represent. The exact difference, or sampling
error, varies depending on the particular sample selected, and this
variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. BLS
analysis is generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence.
That means that there is a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence,
that an estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6
standard errors from the "true" population value because of sampling
error. Sampling error estimates are available at 
www.bls.gov/jlt/jolts_median_standard_errors.htm.

The JOLTS estimates also are affected by nonsampling error.
Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the failure to
include a segment of the population, the inability to obtain data from
all units in the sample, the inability or unwillingness of respondents
to provide data on a timely basis, mistakes made by respondents,
errors made in the collection or processing of the data, and errors
from the employment benchmark data used in estimation.

Other information

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay
Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Job openings levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

5,669 7,293 6,960 7,131 7,166 7,335 3.7 4.7 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7

INDUSTRY

Total private

5,143 6,595 6,340 6,503 6,509 6,707 3.9 4.9 4.8 4.9 4.9 5.0

Mining and logging(3)

20 36 34 31 32 30 2.8 4.6 4.3 4.0 4.1 3.8

Construction(3)

149 317 272 323 294 382 2.1 4.2 3.6 4.2 3.9 4.9

Manufacturing

374 508 485 504 495 428 2.9 3.8 3.7 3.8 3.7 3.2

Durable goods(3)

239 304 307 318 322 292 3.0 3.7 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.5

Nondurable goods(3)

135 204 178 187 173 136 2.8 4.1 3.6 3.8 3.5 2.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,087 1,267 1,282 1,322 1,412 1,346 3.8 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.8 4.6

Wholesale trade(3)

188 221 230 216 207 191 3.1 3.5 3.7 3.5 3.3 3.1

Retail trade

707 760 772 848 908 864 4.3 4.6 4.6 5.1 5.4 5.1

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(3)

192 287 280 258 297 290 3.2 4.6 4.5 4.2 4.7 4.6

Information(3)

103 149 104 150 130 129 3.6 5.1 3.6 5.1 4.5 4.4

Financial activities

332 450 345 400 402 368 3.8 5.0 3.9 4.4 4.5 4.1

Finance and insurance

253 354 264 271 305 302 3.9 5.3 4.0 4.1 4.6 4.5

Real estate and rental and leasing(3)

79 96 81 129 97 66 3.4 4.1 3.4 5.4 4.1 2.8

Professional and business services

874 1,374 1,248 1,227 1,262 1,344 4.1 6.1 5.6 5.5 5.6 5.9

Education and health services

1,107 1,275 1,278 1,240 1,229 1,314 4.5 5.1 5.1 5.0 4.9 5.2

Educational services(3)

84 123 83 102 93 98 2.2 3.2 2.2 2.7 2.4 2.6

Health care and social assistance

1,023 1,152 1,195 1,138 1,137 1,216 4.9 5.5 5.6 5.4 5.4 5.7

Leisure and hospitality

902 996 1,058 1,008 1,026 1,147 5.3 5.7 6.1 5.8 5.9 6.5

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

90 94 95 85 98 135 3.7 3.9 3.9 3.4 3.9 5.3

Accommodation and food services

812 901 963 923 928 1,012 5.5 6.0 6.4 6.2 6.2 6.7

Other services(3)

196 223 234 296 226 220 3.3 3.7 3.8 4.8 3.7 3.6

Government

526 698 620 628 657 628 2.3 3.0 2.7 2.7 2.9 2.7

Federal(3)

81 108 89 107 116 84 2.8 3.7 3.1 3.7 4.0 2.9

State and local

445 591 531 521 541 544 2.2 2.9 2.6 2.6 2.7 2.7

State and local education

165 206 200 205 216 217 1.6 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.0

State and local, excluding education(3)

280 384 331 316 325 328 3.0 4.0 3.5 3.3 3.4 3.4

REGION(4)

Northeast

968 1,177 1,191 1,174 1,179 1,204 3.4 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.2

South

2,012 2,765 2,506 2,566 2,729 2,834 3.6 4.8 4.4 4.5 4.8 4.9

Midwest

1,350 1,707 1,657 1,765 1,698 1,693 4.0 4.9 4.8 5.1 4.9 4.8

West

1,338 1,644 1,605 1,626 1,559 1,605 3.8 4.6 4.5 4.5 4.3 4.4

Footnotes
(1) Job openings are the number of job openings on the last business day of the month.
(2) The job openings rate is the number of job openings on the last business day of the month as a percent of total employment plus job openings.
(3) No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted series.
(4) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Total nonfarm, government, federal government, and regional data in this table have been corrected for the months January 2011 through March 2018.


Table 2. Hires levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

5,516 5,906 5,696 5,928 5,812 5,907 3.7 4.0 3.8 4.0 3.9 3.9

INDUSTRY

Total private

5,173 5,551 5,358 5,578 5,440 5,555 4.1 4.4 4.2 4.4 4.3 4.3

Mining and logging

31 43 44 33 32 41 4.4 5.7 5.9 4.4 4.2 5.4

Construction

321 366 369 361 377 384 4.5 5.0 5.1 4.9 5.2 5.2

Manufacturing

348 368 322 386 377 352 2.8 2.9 2.5 3.0 2.9 2.7

Durable goods

201 205 184 229 206 183 2.6 2.6 2.3 2.9 2.6 2.3

Nondurable goods

147 163 138 157 170 169 3.1 3.4 2.9 3.3 3.6 3.5

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,076 1,218 1,167 1,219 1,179 1,246 3.9 4.4 4.2 4.4 4.2 4.5

Wholesale trade

148 164 137 173 189 155 2.5 2.7 2.3 2.9 3.1 2.6

Retail trade

698 818 806 777 732 858 4.4 5.1 5.1 4.9 4.6 5.4

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

230 236 224 270 259 233 4.0 4.0 3.8 4.5 4.3 3.9

Information

83 77 78 84 91 69 3.0 2.8 2.8 3.0 3.3 2.5

Financial activities

187 221 225 195 206 194 2.2 2.6 2.6 2.3 2.4 2.3

Finance and insurance

122 141 148 128 131 125 1.9 2.2 2.3 2.0 2.1 2.0

Real estate and rental and leasing

65 80 77 67 75 70 2.9 3.5 3.4 2.9 3.3 3.1

Professional and business services

1,218 1,253 1,180 1,214 1,101 1,177 5.9 5.9 5.6 5.7 5.2 5.5

Education and health services

666 715 692 751 761 812 2.8 3.0 2.9 3.2 3.2 3.4

Educational services

111 92 92 99 109 128 3.0 2.4 2.4 2.6 2.9 3.4

Health care and social assistance

556 623 601 652 652 684 2.8 3.1 3.0 3.3 3.2 3.4

Leisure and hospitality

1,021 1,059 1,079 1,119 1,082 1,082 6.3 6.5 6.6 6.8 6.6 6.6

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

153 173 171 175 169 158 6.5 7.4 7.2 7.3 7.1 6.6

Accommodation and food services

869 886 908 943 913 924 6.3 6.3 6.5 6.7 6.5 6.5

Other services

222 231 201 217 234 198 3.8 3.9 3.4 3.7 4.0 3.4

Government

343 355 338 350 371 352 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.6

Federal

20 32 38 35 49 39 0.7 1.2 1.4 1.3 1.7 1.4

State and local

322 322 300 315 323 313 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.6 1.6

State and local education

167 173 159 161 171 163 1.6 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.6

State and local, excluding education

155 149 141 154 152 150 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.6

REGION(3)

Northeast

789 880 803 835 864 836 2.9 3.2 2.9 3.0 3.1 3.0

South

2,218 2,400 2,388 2,527 2,371 2,313 4.1 4.4 4.4 4.6 4.3 4.2

Midwest

1,217 1,296 1,309 1,276 1,277 1,443 3.7 3.9 4.0 3.9 3.8 4.3

West

1,291 1,330 1,196 1,290 1,300 1,314 3.8 3.9 3.5 3.8 3.8 3.8

Footnotes
(1) Hires are the number of hires during the entire month.
(2) The hires rate is the number of hires during the entire month as a percent of total employment.
(3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Total nonfarm, government, federal government, and regional data in this table have been corrected for the months January 2011 through March 2018.


Table 3. Total separations levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

5,314 5,779 5,641 5,621 5,563 5,545 3.6 3.9 3.8 3.8 3.7 3.7

INDUSTRY

Total private

4,959 5,422 5,306 5,267 5,203 5,204 4.0 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.1

Mining and logging

31 35 34 30 32 35 4.5 4.6 4.5 4.0 4.3 4.6

Construction

291 334 343 326 389 370 4.1 4.6 4.7 4.5 5.3 5.0

Manufacturing

337 343 315 350 366 325 2.7 2.7 2.5 2.7 2.9 2.5

Durable goods

189 188 179 205 204 173 2.4 2.4 2.2 2.6 2.5 2.1

Nondurable goods

148 154 136 145 161 152 3.1 3.2 2.8 3.0 3.4 3.2

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,050 1,206 1,192 1,172 1,116 1,139 3.8 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.0 4.1

Wholesale trade

143 151 137 155 168 151 2.4 2.5 2.3 2.6 2.8 2.5

Retail trade

686 837 848 776 721 767 4.3 5.3 5.3 4.9 4.5 4.8

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

221 218 207 241 227 222 3.8 3.7 3.5 4.0 3.8 3.7

Information

88 83 81 73 85 74 3.2 3.0 2.9 2.6 3.1 2.7

Financial activities

172 231 209 181 190 174 2.0 2.7 2.4 2.1 2.2 2.0

Finance and insurance

121 143 143 121 129 126 1.9 2.3 2.3 1.9 2.0 2.0

Real estate and rental and leasing

51 88 66 60 61 47 2.3 3.9 2.9 2.6 2.7 2.1

Professional and business services

1,180 1,194 1,161 1,138 1,071 1,150 5.7 5.7 5.5 5.4 5.0 5.4

Education and health services

626 665 646 694 713 740 2.7 2.8 2.7 2.9 3.0 3.1

Educational services

98 88 89 95 107 91 2.6 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.9 2.4

Health care and social assistance

529 577 557 599 606 649 2.7 2.9 2.8 3.0 3.0 3.2

Leisure and hospitality

981 1,072 1,097 1,098 1,037 1,026 6.0 6.6 6.7 6.7 6.3 6.2

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

142 177 164 159 163 160 6.0 7.5 7.0 6.6 6.8 6.7

Accommodation and food services

839 895 933 939 874 867 6.1 6.4 6.7 6.7 6.2 6.1

Other services

204 260 228 206 205 172 3.5 4.4 3.9 3.5 3.5 2.9

Government

354 357 335 353 359 340 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.6 1.5

Federal

36 33 34 31 36 44 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.3 1.6

State and local

319 324 301 322 324 296 1.6 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.5

State and local education

165 172 157 177 174 162 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.6

State and local, excluding education

153 152 144 145 149 135 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.5

REGION(3)

Northeast

771 856 841 760 747 728 2.8 3.1 3.1 2.8 2.7 2.6

South

2,116 2,356 2,378 2,282 2,314 2,346 3.9 4.3 4.4 4.2 4.2 4.3

Midwest

1,164 1,257 1,255 1,348 1,321 1,305 3.6 3.8 3.8 4.1 4.0 3.9

West

1,263 1,310 1,167 1,229 1,180 1,166 3.7 3.8 3.4 3.6 3.4 3.4

Footnotes
(1) Total separations are the number of total separations during the entire month.
(2) The total separations rate is the number of total separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment.
(3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Total nonfarm, government, federal government, and regional data in this table have been corrected for the months January 2011 through March 2018.


Table 4. Quits levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

3,340 3,648 3,564 3,519 3,494 3,482 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.3

INDUSTRY

Total private

3,164 3,480 3,391 3,338 3,298 3,304 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.6 2.6

Mining and logging

17 21 21 19 20 21 2.5 2.8 2.8 2.5 2.7 2.8

Construction

152 165 164 166 188 204 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.6 2.8

Manufacturing

217 212 198 205 231 196 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.8 1.5

Durable goods

120 119 108 113 127 108 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.3

Nondurable goods

97 93 90 92 104 88 2.1 2.0 1.9 1.9 2.2 1.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

682 759 761 735 742 713 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.6 2.7 2.5

Wholesale trade

101 108 85 81 95 90 1.7 1.8 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.5

Retail trade

475 529 569 528 514 493 3.0 3.3 3.6 3.3 3.2 3.1

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

106 122 106 125 134 130 1.8 2.1 1.8 2.1 2.2 2.2

Information

50 49 47 50 55 40 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.8 2.0 1.4

Financial activities

114 155 126 110 99 113 1.3 1.8 1.5 1.3 1.1 1.3

Finance and insurance

83 89 75 63 64 82 1.3 1.4 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.3

Real estate and rental and leasing(3)

30 66 50 47 35 31 1.4 2.9 2.2 2.0 1.5 1.4

Professional and business services

747 696 704 661 617 677 3.6 3.3 3.3 3.1 2.9 3.2

Education and health services

423 469 431 497 505 546 1.8 2.0 1.8 2.1 2.1 2.3

Educational services

52 35 47 58 54 46 1.4 0.9 1.3 1.6 1.4 1.2

Health care and social assistance

370 434 384 439 451 500 1.9 2.2 1.9 2.2 2.2 2.5

Leisure and hospitality

676 777 780 769 716 713 4.2 4.7 4.8 4.7 4.3 4.3

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

64 84 85 78 63 71 2.7 3.6 3.6 3.3 2.6 2.9

Accommodation and food services

611 693 695 691 653 642 4.4 4.9 5.0 4.9 4.6 4.6

Other services(3)

87 177 159 127 124 82 1.5 3.0 2.7 2.2 2.1 1.4

Government

176 168 174 180 196 178 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8

Federal

13 13 16 16 18 21 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8

State and local

163 155 158 164 178 157 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8

State and local education

83 85 83 89 93 88 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.8

State and local, excluding education

80 70 75 75 85 70 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8

REGION(4)

Northeast

422 448 459 403 384 408 1.6 1.6 1.7 1.5 1.4 1.5

South

1,322 1,500 1,533 1,503 1,504 1,512 2.5 2.8 2.8 2.7 2.7 2.8

Midwest

758 856 799 815 804 809 2.3 2.6 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.4

West

837 845 773 798 803 754 2.5 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.2

Footnotes
(1) Quits are the number of quits during the entire month.
(2) The quits rate is the number of quits during the entire month as a percent of total employment.
(3) No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted series.
(4) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary


Table 5. Layoffs and discharges levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

1,655 1,790 1,707 1,761 1,753 1,697 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.1

INDUSTRY

Total private

1,534 1,666 1,609 1,647 1,651 1,599 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3

Mining and logging(3)

13 13 11 9 11 12 1.9 1.7 1.5 1.1 1.4 1.6

Construction

127 159 169 145 186 149 1.8 2.2 2.3 2.0 2.5 2.0

Manufacturing

101 112 95 127 113 110 0.8 0.9 0.7 1.0 0.9 0.9

Durable goods

56 60 59 80 63 52 0.7 0.8 0.7 1.0 0.8 0.6

Nondurable goods

44 52 36 47 50 58 0.9 1.1 0.8 1.0 1.0 1.2

Trade, transportation, and utilities

302 384 374 367 304 352 1.1 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.3

Wholesale trade(3)

30 38 44 59 53 50 0.5 0.6 0.7 1.0 0.9 0.8

Retail trade

171 264 242 205 165 221 1.1 1.7 1.5 1.3 1.0 1.4

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

101 82 89 102 86 81 1.7 1.4 1.5 1.7 1.4 1.3

Information

29 27 28 20 22 25 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.7 0.8 0.9

Financial activities

42 55 59 47 64 47 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.5

Finance and insurance

24 40 44 34 43 34 0.4 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.5

Real estate and rental and leasing

18 15 14 13 21 13 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.9 0.6

Professional and business services

394 443 376 402 405 401 1.9 2.1 1.8 1.9 1.9 1.9

Education and health services

149 141 154 162 180 141 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.6

Educational services

39 45 33 33 50 39 1.0 1.2 0.9 0.9 1.4 1.1

Health care and social assistance

111 96 121 129 129 102 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5

Leisure and hospitality

273 265 278 300 291 291 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.8

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

75 87 72 78 93 87 3.2 3.7 3.0 3.3 3.9 3.6

Accommodation and food services

198 177 206 222 197 204 1.4 1.3 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.4

Other services

104 67 65 69 76 71 1.8 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.2

Government

121 125 98 113 102 98 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.4

Federal

12 7 6 6 5 9 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3

State and local

109 118 92 107 97 89 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5

State and local education

58 60 51 60 56 49 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.5

State and local, excluding education

51 57 41 47 40 40 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4

REGION(4)

Northeast

287 322 308 297 301 261 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.1 0.9

South

678 731 714 674 678 697 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.3

Midwest

336 348 375 449 458 408 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.4 1.2

West

353 389 311 341 315 331 1.0 1.1 0.9 1.0 0.9 1.0

Footnotes
(1) Layoffs and discharges are the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month.
(2) The layoffs and discharges rate is the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month as a percent of total employment.
(3) No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted series.
(4) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Total nonfarm, government, federal government, and regional data in this table have been corrected for the months January 2011 through March 2018.


Table 6. Other separations levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Aug.
2018
Sept.
2018
Oct.
2018
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

318 341 369 341 316 366 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

INDUSTRY

Total private

261 277 307 281 255 302 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Mining and logging

1 1 1 3 1 1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.2

Construction(3)

12 10 10 15 15 17 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

Manufacturing

19 19 22 18 22 19 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1

Durable goods

12 9 12 12 14 13 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

Nondurable goods(3)

7 10 10 6 8 6 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1

Trade, transportation, and utilities

66 64 57 70 69 75 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3

Wholesale trade

13 6 7 15 20 10 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2

Retail trade

39 44 37 43 42 53 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities(3)

14 14 12 13 7 11 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2

Information(3)

8 7 6 3 8 9 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.3

Financial activities

17 21 25 24 28 14 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2

Finance and insurance

13 14 23 23 23 11 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.2

Real estate and rental and leasing(3)

3 7 2 1 5 3 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.1

Professional and business services

39 54 80 75 48 71 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.3

Education and health services

55 54 60 35 29 53 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.2

Educational services(3)

7 8 8 3 3 5 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1

Health care and social assistance(3)

48 47 52 31 26 47 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.2

Leisure and hospitality

32 31 40 29 30 22 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1

Arts, entertainment, and recreation(3)

3 5 8 2 6 2 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.1

Accommodation and food services(3)

29 25 32 27 24 20 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1

Other services(3)

13 16 5 10 5 20 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.3

Government

57 64 63 60 61 64 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

Federal

11 13 12 9 12 14 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.5

State and local

47 51 51 50 49 50 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

State and local education

25 26 24 28 25 25 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2

State and local, excluding education

22 25 27 23 24 25 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3

REGION(4)

Northeast

61 86 74 60 62 59 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2

South

115 125 131 106 132 138 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3

Midwest

70 53 81 85 60 88 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3

West

72 77 83 90 62 81 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2

Footnotes
(1) Other separations are the number of other separations during the entire month.
(2) The other separations rate is the number of other separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment.
(3) No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted series.
(4) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Levels are rounded to the nearest thousand and rates are rounded to the nearest tenth. Levels and rates may round down to zero.


Table 7. Job openings levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

5,224 6,843 6,890 3.4 4.3 4.4

INDUSTRY

Total private

4,709 6,192 6,271 3.6 4.6 4.7

Mining and logging

20 32 30 2.7 4.1 3.8

Construction

149 294 382 2.1 3.8 5.0

Manufacturing

374 495 428 2.9 3.7 3.2

Durable goods

239 322 292 3.0 3.9 3.5

Nondurable goods

135 173 136 2.8 3.5 2.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

994 1,383 1,250 3.4 4.6 4.2

Wholesale trade

188 207 191 3.1 3.3 3.1

Retail trade

614 880 768 3.6 5.1 4.5

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

192 297 290 3.1 4.6 4.5

Information

103 130 129 3.6 4.5 4.4

Financial activities

323 393 363 3.7 4.4 4.0

Finance and insurance

244 296 297 3.7 4.5 4.5

Real estate and rental and leasing

79 97 66 3.4 4.1 2.8

Professional and business services

767 1,166 1,232 3.6 5.2 5.5

Education and health services

1,064 1,141 1,259 4.3 4.5 5.0

Educational services

84 93 98 2.1 2.3 2.5

Health care and social assistance

980 1,048 1,161 4.7 4.9 5.4

Leisure and hospitality

719 932 978 4.3 5.5 5.7

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

66 78 103 3.0 3.4 4.4

Accommodation and food services

653 853 876 4.6 5.8 5.9

Other services

196 226 220 3.3 3.7 3.6

Government

515 650 619 2.2 2.8 2.6

Federal

81 116 84 2.8 4.0 2.9

State and local

434 534 535 2.1 2.6 2.6

State and local education

154 209 208 1.4 1.9 1.9

State and local, excluding education

280 325 328 3.0 3.4 3.5

REGION(3)

Northeast

902 1,116 1,148 3.2 3.9 4.0

South

1,837 2,586 2,634 3.3 4.5 4.6

Midwest

1,255 1,679 1,603 3.7 4.8 4.6

West

1,228 1,462 1,506 3.5 4.0 4.2

Footnotes
(1) Job openings are the number of job openings on the last business day of the month.
(2) The job openings rate is the number of job openings on the last business day of the month as a percent of total employment plus job openings.
(3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Total nonfarm, government, federal government, and regional data in this table have been corrected for the months January 2011 through March 2018.


Table 8. Hires levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

4,103 5,332 4,370 2.8 3.5 2.9

INDUSTRY

Total private

3,899 5,038 4,163 3.1 3.9 3.2

Mining and logging

19 27 25 2.7 3.6 3.3

Construction

177 280 219 2.5 3.8 3.0

Manufacturing

228 305 229 1.8 2.4 1.8

Durable goods

136 169 122 1.7 2.1 1.5

Nondurable goods

92 136 107 1.9 2.8 2.2

Trade, transportation, and utilities

872 1,453 982 3.1 5.1 3.4

Wholesale trade

107 147 111 1.8 2.4 1.8

Retail trade

512 931 632 3.1 5.7 3.8

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

253 375 239 4.2 6.1 3.8

Information

67 87 55 2.4 3.1 2.0

Financial activities

133 176 134 1.6 2.0 1.6

Finance and insurance

90 112 89 1.4 1.8 1.4

Real estate and rental and leasing

42 65 46 1.9 2.9 2.0

Professional and business services

1,018 977 990 4.9 4.6 4.6

Education and health services

478 631 604 2.0 2.6 2.5

Educational services

55 72 68 1.4 1.8 1.8

Health care and social assistance

423 559 536 2.1 2.8 2.7

Leisure and hospitality

748 909 793 4.7 5.6 4.9

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

102 117 100 4.7 5.3 4.5

Accommodation and food services

646 792 693 4.7 5.7 5.0

Other services

159 194 130 2.7 3.3 2.2

Government

204 293 208 0.9 1.3 0.9

Federal

16 48 29 0.6 1.7 1.0

State and local

188 245 178 0.9 1.2 0.9

State and local education

88 121 82 0.8 1.1 0.8

State and local, excluding education

101 124 96 1.1 1.4 1.1

REGION(3)

Northeast

587 766 602 2.1 2.8 2.2

South

1,684 2,185 1,749 3.1 4.0 3.2

Midwest

873 1,156 1,047 2.7 3.5 3.1

West

960 1,225 972 2.8 3.5 2.8

Footnotes
(1) Hires are the number of hires during the entire month.
(2) The hires rate is the number of hires during the entire month as a percent of total employment.
(3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Total nonfarm, government, federal government, and regional data in this table have been corrected for the months January 2011 through March 2018.


Table 9. Total separations levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

5,061 4,910 5,265 3.4 3.2 3.5

INDUSTRY

Total private

4,748 4,666 4,967 3.8 3.6 3.9

Mining and logging

28 28 30 4.0 3.7 4.0

Construction

303 384 378 4.3 5.2 5.2

Manufacturing

283 308 275 2.3 2.4 2.1

Durable goods

154 164 140 2.0 2.0 1.7

Nondurable goods

129 145 136 2.7 3.0 2.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities

1,096 987 1,182 3.9 3.5 4.1

Wholesale trade

123 144 134 2.1 2.4 2.2

Retail trade

713 640 798 4.4 3.9 4.9

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

260 203 250 4.3 3.3 4.0

Information

82 74 68 3.0 2.7 2.5

Financial activities

156 165 156 1.8 1.9 1.8

Finance and insurance

108 107 112 1.7 1.7 1.8

Real estate and rental and leasing

48 58 44 2.2 2.6 1.9

Professional and business services

1,201 983 1,178 5.8 4.6 5.5

Education and health services

542 570 642 2.3 2.4 2.7

Educational services

75 60 70 2.0 1.5 1.8

Health care and social assistance

467 510 572 2.4 2.5 2.8

Leisure and hospitality

862 966 891 5.4 6.0 5.5

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

110 180 124 5.1 8.1 5.5

Accommodation and food services

751 786 768 5.5 5.6 5.5

Other services

196 201 166 3.4 3.4 2.8

Government

313 244 298 1.4 1.1 1.3

Federal

34 33 45 1.2 1.2 1.6

State and local

279 211 253 1.4 1.1 1.3

State and local education

138 88 130 1.3 0.8 1.2

State and local, excluding education

141 123 123 1.6 1.3 1.3

REGION(3)

Northeast

785 668 719 2.9 2.4 2.6

South

1,925 1,987 2,142 3.5 3.6 3.9

Midwest

1,147 1,221 1,303 3.5 3.6 3.9

West

1,203 1,034 1,100 3.5 3.0 3.2

Footnotes
(1) Total separations are the number of total separations during the entire month.
(2) The total separations rate is the number of total separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment.
(3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Total nonfarm, government, federal government, and regional data in this table have been corrected for the months January 2011 through March 2018.


Table 10. Quits levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

2,930 2,968 3,031 2.0 2.0 2.0

INDUSTRY

Total private

2,793 2,827 2,894 2.2 2.2 2.3

Mining and logging

14 16 17 2.0 2.1 2.2

Construction

116 147 162 1.7 2.0 2.2

Manufacturing

160 172 140 1.3 1.3 1.1

Durable goods

88 92 77 1.1 1.2 1.0

Nondurable goods

72 80 63 1.5 1.7 1.3

Trade, transportation, and utilities

631 652 655 2.2 2.3 2.3

Wholesale trade

81 78 74 1.4 1.3 1.2

Retail trade

442 446 449 2.7 2.7 2.7

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

108 128 132 1.8 2.1 2.1

Information

48 47 36 1.7 1.7 1.3

Financial activities

99 84 101 1.2 1.0 1.2

Finance and insurance

69 49 70 1.1 0.8 1.1

Real estate and rental and leasing

30 35 31 1.4 1.5 1.4

Professional and business services

711 561 638 3.4 2.6 3.0

Education and health services

352 404 465 1.5 1.7 1.9

Educational services

36 34 32 0.9 0.9 0.8

Health care and social assistance

316 370 433 1.6 1.8 2.1

Leisure and hospitality

577 620 599 3.6 3.8 3.7

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

46 45 49 2.1 2.0 2.2

Accommodation and food services

531 575 550 3.9 4.1 3.9

Other services

87 124 82 1.5 2.1 1.4

Government

137 141 136 0.6 0.6 0.6

Federal

11 17 19 0.4 0.6 0.7

State and local

126 124 118 0.6 0.6 0.6

State and local education

59 57 60 0.5 0.5 0.6

State and local, excluding education

67 67 57 0.7 0.7 0.6

REGION(3)

Northeast

386 325 367 1.4 1.2 1.3

South

1,115 1,264 1,275 2.1 2.3 2.3

Midwest

670 691 713 2.0 2.1 2.1

West

759 688 675 2.2 2.0 1.9

Footnotes
(1) Quits are the number of quits during the entire month.
(2) The quits rate is the number of quits during the entire month as a percent of total employment.
(3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary


Table 11. Layoffs and discharges levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

1,817 1,677 1,875 1.2 1.1 1.2

INDUSTRY

Total private

1,696 1,610 1,777 1.3 1.3 1.4

Mining and logging

13 11 12 1.8 1.4 1.6

Construction

175 222 198 2.5 3.0 2.7

Manufacturing

104 118 115 0.8 0.9 0.9

Durable goods

54 61 49 0.7 0.8 0.6

Nondurable goods

50 57 66 1.1 1.2 1.4

Trade, transportation, and utilities

406 281 456 1.4 1.0 1.6

Wholesale trade

30 53 50 0.5 0.9 0.8

Retail trade

238 160 299 1.5 1.0 1.8

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

138 68 106 2.3 1.1 1.7

Information

27 20 24 1.0 0.7 0.9

Financial activities

40 54 42 0.5 0.6 0.5

Finance and insurance

26 35 32 0.4 0.6 0.5

Real estate and rental and leasing

15 18 10 0.7 0.8 0.4

Professional and business services

448 380 471 2.2 1.8 2.2

Education and health services

135 137 124 0.6 0.6 0.5

Educational services

32 23 33 0.8 0.6 0.8

Health care and social assistance

103 115 92 0.5 0.6 0.5

Leisure and hospitality

253 316 270 1.6 2.0 1.7

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

61 129 73 2.8 5.8 3.3

Accommodation and food services

191 187 197 1.4 1.3 1.4

Other services

96 72 64 1.7 1.2 1.1

Government

120 66 98 0.5 0.3 0.4

Federal

11 7 11 0.4 0.2 0.4

State and local

109 59 88 0.5 0.3 0.4

State and local education

62 22 52 0.6 0.2 0.5

State and local, excluding education

47 38 35 0.5 0.4 0.4

REGION(3)

Northeast

344 299 302 1.3 1.1 1.1

South

688 593 721 1.3 1.1 1.3

Midwest

411 488 503 1.3 1.5 1.5

West

373 296 350 1.1 0.9 1.0

Footnotes
(1) Layoffs and discharges are the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month.
(2) The layoffs and discharges rate is the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month as a percent of total employment.
(3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Total nonfarm, government, federal government, and regional data in this table have been corrected for the months January 2011 through March 2018.


Table 12. Other separations levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted(1)
Industry and region Levels (in thousands) Rates(2)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)
Dec.
2017
Nov.
2018
Dec.
2018(p)

Total

314 266 359 0.2 0.2 0.2

INDUSTRY

Total private

258 229 296 0.2 0.2 0.2

Mining and logging

1 1 1 0.2 0.2 0.2

Construction

12 15 17 0.2 0.2 0.2

Manufacturing

19 18 20 0.2 0.1 0.2

Durable goods

12 10 14 0.2 0.1 0.2

Nondurable goods

7 8 6 0.1 0.2 0.1

Trade, transportation, and utilities

60 54 71 0.2 0.2 0.2

Wholesale trade

12 13 10 0.2 0.2 0.2

Retail trade

33 34 49 0.2 0.2 0.3

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities

14 7 11 0.2 0.1 0.2

Information

8 8 9 0.3 0.3 0.3

Financial activities

16 27 13 0.2 0.3 0.1

Finance and insurance

13 22 10 0.2 0.3 0.2

Real estate and rental and leasing

3 5 3 0.1 0.2 0.1

Professional and business services

41 42 69 0.2 0.2 0.3

Education and health services

55 29 53 0.2 0.1 0.2

Educational services

7 3 5 0.2 0.1 0.1

Health care and social assistance

48 26 47 0.2 0.1 0.2

Leisure and hospitality

32 30 22 0.2 0.2 0.1

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

3 6 2 0.1 0.3 0.1

Accommodation and food services

29 24 20 0.2 0.2 0.1

Other services

13 5 20 0.2 0.1 0.3

Government

56 37 63 0.2 0.2 0.3

Federal

12 9 15 0.4 0.3 0.5

State and local

44 28 48 0.2 0.1 0.2

State and local education

17 9 17 0.2 0.1 0.2

State and local, excluding education

27 19 30 0.3 0.2 0.3

REGION(3)

Northeast

54 44 50 0.2 0.2 0.2

South

122 130 146 0.2 0.2 0.3

Midwest

67 43 87 0.2 0.1 0.3

West

71 49 76 0.2 0.1 0.2

Footnotes
(1) Other separations are the number of other separations during the entire month.
(2) The other separations rate is the number of other separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment.
(3) The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
(p) Preliminary

NOTE: Levels are rounded to the nearest thousand and rates are rounded to the nearest tenth. Levels and rates may round down to zero.


Last Modified Date: February 12, 2019