Job openings remain significantly lower than 2022 peak

Below, EPI senior economist Elise Gould offers her initial insights on today’s release of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for November. Read the full Twitter thread here.

While not much changed in the JOLTS report for November, when we benchmark against latest peaks and troughs, we can see how much these labor market metrics have moderated over the last two years. Job openings and hires are down about 12% from their peaks earlier in 2022. pic.twitter.com/V5ueoVLHFl

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) January 4, 2023

As with the level of changes, there were only very slight differences in the hires, quits, and layoffs rates. Over 2022, the hires rate has slowly returned to pre-pandemic levels. The quits rate remains elevated but has also been generally moving back towards historic benchmarks. pic.twitter.com/oG92oihinN

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) January 4, 2023

Although the quits rate remains above historic benchmarks, it’s been coming down for months (even with the mild uptick in November, it’s been generally trending down). Hiring continues to outpace quits in every major sector as workers seek and find new jobs. pic.twitter.com/960kIFPmTz

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) January 4, 2023