JOLTS Day Graphs: December 2020 Edition

Every month the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on hiring, firing, and other labor market flows from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, better known as JOLTS. Today, the BLS released the latest data for December 2020. This report doesn’t get as much attention as the monthly Employment Situation Report, but it contains useful information about the state of the U.S. labor market. Below are a few key graphs using data from the report.

The quits rate increased slightly to 2.3 percent in December, with larger increases to the quits rate in leisure & hospitality and education & health services.

Quits as a percent of total U.S. employment, 2001–2020

Job openings were little changed but hires decreased in December, leading to a decline in the job vacancy yield.

U.S. total nonfarm hires per total nonfarm job openings, 2000–2020

With little change to unemployment and openings in December, the ratio of unemployed workers remained stable, although at an an elevated level compared to before the pandemic.

U.S. unemployed workers per total nonfarm job opening, 2001–2020

The Beveridge Curve has made little movement in the past three months, but remains in an atypical range during the pandemic-induced recession.

The relationship between the U.S. unemployment rate and the job opening rate, 2001–2020
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