On the last business day of November, the number of job openings fell to 6.8 million, down by 561,000 from October, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In November, the number of total nonfarm total separations was little changed at 5.6 million. The number of total nonfarm hires was little changed at 5.8 million. Over the 12 months ending in November, hires totaled 69.8 million and separations totaled 67.5 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.3 million. These totals include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.
November job openings decreased for total private (minus 520,000) and edged down for government (minus 42,000). The largest decreases in job openings were in retail trade (minus 139,000) and construction (minus 112,000).
These data are from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The data are seasonally adjusted. To learn more, see “Job Openings and Labor Turnover — November 2019.”
