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

Other topline indicators in the #JOLTS report saw little to no change in August. The hires rate was unchanged as separations ticked up slightly, due in part to a mild increase in the layoffs and discharges rate while the quits rate held steady. pic.twitter.com/X1XvupoAZX

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) October 4, 2022

While quits rose in accommodations and food services, all sectors—including that one—experienced greater hires than quits in August. Hiring continues to outpace quits in every major sector as workers seek and find new jobs. pic.twitter.com/kKGxmVf1AF

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) October 4, 2022

The drop in job openings is the big story today, but remember that we’ve already seen the data on net job growth for August and it was strong, with 315,000 jobs added and an increase in labor force participation.https://t.co/wC7Ev51Lkt

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) October 4, 2022

As always, these surveys exhibit a fair amount of month to month volatility, but @hshierholz puts today’s data in context and shows just how much churn has come down since their peak levels of openings, hires, and quits in the pandemic labor market.https://t.co/M9Q0QfH8Q8

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) October 4, 2022