JOLTS Day Graphs: December 2021 Edition
The quits rate ticked down slightly to 2.9 percent in December, as the number of quits fell 161,000 to 4.3 million.
![Quits as a percent of total U.S. employment, 2001-2021. Recessions are shaded.](https://equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/When-workers-are-less-confident-about-the-labor-market-the-quits-rate-tends-to-decline-1080x762.png)
With job openings fairly steady at 10.9 million and hires decreasing 333,000 to 6.3 million, the vacancy yield declined to 0.57 in December.
![U.S. total nonfarm hires per total nonfarm job openings, 2001-2021. Recessions are shaded.](https://equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/During-typical-recessions-job-openings-tend-to-yield-more-hires-1080x762.png)
The ratio of unemployed-worker-per-job-opening remains low, falling further from 0.63 unemployed workers per job opening in November to 0.58 in December.
![U.S. unemployed workers per total nonfarm job opening, 2001-2021. Recessions are shaded.](https://equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Recessions-usually-increase-the-bargaining-power-of-employers-1080x762.png)
The Beveridge Curve continues to be in an atypical range compared to previous business cycles, as the unemployment rate declined slightly in December and the job openings rate remained elevated.
![The relationship between the U.S. unemployment rate and the job openings rate, 2001-2021.](https://equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The-Beveridge-Curve-typically-shows-that-when-unemployment-increases-job-vacancies-tend-to-decrease-1080x921.png)
Job openings slowed in several sectors—such as education and health services, manufacturing, and trade, transportation, and utilities—that have seen elevated job openings relative to pre-pandemic levels.
![Job openings by selected major U.S. industries, indexed to job openings in February 2020.](https://equitablegrowth.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The-recovery-of-job-openings-varies-widely-across-industries-1080x928.png)