JOLTs: Openings Tick Higher Again

Bottom Line: Job openings rose just slightly in June after a modest correction in May following sharp gains in the Spring. On a trend basis job openings are still accelerating as the pace of hires relative to openings continues to trend lower. The quit rate was unchanged at 2.3%, while the layoff & discharge rate rose slightly to 1.2%. The number of job openings as a % of short-term unemployed (less than 27 weeks) is now 131.0% vs. 136.6% vs last month. Job Openings ROSE by 3k in June to 6.662 million, compared with market expectations for a decline to 6625.000 million. Government job openings ROSE by 3k. Consequently, private sector job openings ROSE by 1k. Over the past 12 months, there were 537k more job openings , 2,005k more than the March 2007 pre-recession peak level. Job Hires FELL by 96k in June to 5.651 million. Over the past 12 months, there were 184k more job hires , 182k above their November 2006 pre-recession peak level. Job Separations ROSE by 83k in June to 5.502 million. Over the past 12 months, there were 206k more job separations. The Hires to Job openings ratio FELL by 0.015 points from 0.863 to 0.848 and is modestly below its 12 month average of 0.885. The Number of Unemployed to Job openings ratio ROSE by 0.07 points from 0.91 to 0.99 and is modestly below its 12 month average of 1.06. This ratio has been declining since its July 2009 peak of 6.7 amid some volatility.