Job Openings Climb in January as Hires Decline

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

There were more job openings at the close of 2021, with fewer hires recorded in the last month of the year.

• Job openings for the month stood at 10.925 million, higher than the 10.775 million in November and the 6.752 million in December 2020.
• The rate for the month was unchanged at 6.8% from November but higher than the 4.5% recorded the same month the previous year.
• Total private openings stood at 9.882 million, while government openings increased to 1.042 million.
• Hires for the month fell to 6.263 million from 6.596 million in November, with the hires rate down to 4.2% from 4.4% the previous month and up from 3.8%.
• Total separations were recorded at 5.900 million, down from 6.205 million in November and 5.582 million in December 2020.
• The separation rate fell to 4.0% from 4.2% in November but up 3.9% from the previous year.
• Hires for the year totaled 75.3 million, while separations totaled 68.9 million, bringing the net employment gain to 6.4 million.