Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey

January 13, 2009

There were 2.8 million job openings in the U.S. on the last day of November 2008. The job openings rate declined further to 2.0 percent, matching a series low. The hires rate fell sharply to 2.6 percent, reaching a new series low. The total separations rate was little changed at 3.2 percent, but the quits rate fell to 1.4 percent, also reaching a new series low. More...
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For Annual Data, please open the January 2008 press release (PDF).

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Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS)

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All JOLTS Databases

• JOLTS Basic (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview) Form (PDF 24K)
• JOLTS Temporary Help/Professional Employer Organization Industry (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview) Form (PDF 23K)
• JOLTS Education Industry (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview) Form (PDF 23K)
• Kelly A. Clark and Rosemary Hyson, “New tools for labor market analysis: JOLTS” (PDF 41K)
• Brady Stephens and Kim Riley, “Developing Annual Estimates of Hires and Separations”
• Mark Crankshaw and George Stamas, “Sample Design in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey”
• Charlotte Mueller and John Wohlford, “Developing a New Business Survey: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey at the Bureau of Labor Statistics”
• Kelly A. Clark, “What an Indicator of Labor Demand Means for U.S. Labor Market Analysis: Initial Results from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey”
• Kelly A. Clark and Mary Anne Phillips, “A Comparison of Job Openings Surveys: Concepts and Survey Design”
• Kelly A. Clark, Mary Anne Phillips, and Brady Stephens, “The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey: Preparing to Publish Data for a New Survey”
• Mary Anne Phillips and Charlotte Mueller, “The Genesis of an Establishment Survey: Research and Development for the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey at the BLS”
• John Wohlford, Mary Anne Phillips, Richard Clayton, and George Werking, “Reconciling Labor Turnover and Employment Statistics”

People Are Asking...

1. Are annual estimates available?
2. Are seasonally adjusted JOLTS data available?
3. What dates are the JOLTS data released?
4. Does JOLTS have estimates by occupation, by state, or by metropolitan area?
5. Can JOLTS help my job search?
6. What is the cost of turnover?
7. What is the average number of jobs a person holds over a lifetime?

Frequently Asked Questions

Information for JOLTS Survey Participants

1. Frequently Asked Questions
2. Example Cases for JOLTS Survey Participants

Information for JOLTS Data Users

1. What is JOLTS?
2. Availability
3. Frame and Sample
4. Data Definitions
5. Data Collection
6. Data Presentation

What JOLTS does not have:

1. List of Individual Job Openings
2. Cost of Turnover
3. Tenure
4. Number of Jobs the Average Person has over a lifetime
5. Turnover Rates by Occupation

All JOLTS FAQs »

• NEW Beginning with the release of January 2009 data on March 10, BLS will implement improvements to the methodology used to generate estimates of hires, separations, and job openings from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) program. These changes are designed to improve the measurement of hires, separations, and openings and to more closely align the hires and separations estimates with monthly employment change as measured by the BLS Current Employment Statistics (establishment) survey. All JOLTS historical series will be revised to incorporate the new methods and also will be released on March 10. For more information, please see www.bls.gov/jlt/methodologyimprovement.htm

• With the release of January 2007 data on March 13, BLS revised the job openings, hires, and separations data to incorporate the annual updates to the Current Employment Statistics employment estimates and the JOLTS seasonal adjustment factors. Unadjusted data since April 2005 and seasonally adjusted data since December 2000 were subject to revision. Additionally, with the March 13 release, BLS updated the annual rates and levels for hires and separations and issued new annual rates and levels for 2006.

Other BLS Programs

• Business Employment Dynamics—quarterly data series of job gains and job losses statistics, generated from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program.
• Current Employment Statistics (National)— monthly national data by detailed industry on employment, hours, and earnings of workers on the payrolls of nonfarm establishments.
• Current Population Survey— monthly data on the labor force, employment, unemployment and persons not in the labor force. It also provides monthly data on job losers and job leavers and biennial data on displaced workers.
• Mass Layoff Statistics— reports on mass layoff actions that result in workers being separated from their jobs.

Other Useful Links

• CareerOneStop— a source of helpful job search information.
• America's Career InfoNet (ACINet)— helps people make more informed career decisions. America's Career InfoNet is ideal for job seekers, employers, human resource specialists and workforce development specialists.

For additional information concerning the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), contact a JOLTS staff member at:

• Email: Contact JOLTS staff by email
• Telephone number: (202) 691-5870
• Fax number: (202) 691-6645
• Postal address:
  
  Bureau of Labor Statistics
  Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics
  Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey Suite 4840
  2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE
  Washington, DC 20212-0001

Survey participants who need assistance in completing their monthly report, call 1-800-341-4620.

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