For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Tuesday, February 6, 2018 USDL-18-0204

Technical information: (202) 691-5870 • JoltsInfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/jlt

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov

JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – DECEMBER 2017

The number of job openings was little changed at 5.8 million on the last business day of December, the

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, hires and separations were little 

changed at 5.5 million and 5.2 million, respectively. Within separations, the quits rate and the layoffs 

and discharges rate were little changed at 2.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. This release includes 

estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the nonfarm sector by 

industry and by four geographic regions.

Job Openings

On the last business day of December, there were 5.8 million job openings, little changed from 

November. The job openings rate was 3.8 percent in December. The number of job openings was little

changed for total private and for government. Job openings increased in information (+33,000) and

federal government (+13,000). Job openings decreased in a number of industries with the largest 

decreases occurring in professional and business services (-119,000), retail trade (-85,000), and 

construction (-52,000). The number of job openings was little changed in all four regions. (See table 1.)

Hires

The number of hires was little changed at 5.5 million in December. The hires rate was 3.7 percent. The 

number of hires was little changed for total private, for government, and in all industries and regions.

(See table 2.)

 2.0

 2.2

 2.4

 2.6

 2.8

 3.0

 3.2

 3.4

 3.6

 3.8

 4.0

 4.2

 4.4

Dec-14 Mar-15 Jun-15 Sep-15 Dec-15 Mar-16 Jun-16 Sep-16 Dec-16 Mar-17 Jun-17 Sep-17 Dec-17

Percent

Chart 1. Job openings rate, seasonally adjusted, December 2014 - December 2017

2.0

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

3.0

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

4.0

4.2

4.4

Dec-14 Mar-15 Jun-15 Sep-15 Dec-15 Mar-16 Jun-16 Sep-16 Dec-16 Mar-17 Jun-17 Sep-17 Dec-17

Hires

Separations

Percent

Chart 2. Hires and total separations rates, seasonally adjusted, December 2014 - December 2017
- 2 -

Separations

Total separations includes quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Total separations is 

referred to as turnover. Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, 

the quits rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and 

discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. Other separations includes separations 

due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.

The number of total separations was little changed at 5.2 million in December. The total separations 

rate was 3.6 percent. The number of total separations was little changed for total private and for 

government. Total separations increased in state and local government education (+17,000). The number 

of total separations increased in the Midwest region. (See table 3.)

The number of quits was little changed at 3.3 million in December. The quits rate was 2.2 percent. The 

number of quits was little changed for total private and for government. Quits decreased in federal 

government (-4,000). The number of quits increased in the Midwest region. (See table 4.)

There were 1.6 million layoffs and discharges in December, little changed from November. The layoffs 

and discharges rate was 1.1 percent in December. The number of layoffs and discharges was little 

changed for total private and for government. Layoffs and discharges increased in state and local 

government education (+15,000). The number of layoffs and discharges was little changed in all four 

regions. (See table 5.)

The number of other separations was little changed in December at 334,000. The number of other 

separations was little changed for total private and edged down for government. Other separations 

decreased in state and local government, excluding education (-11,000). The number of other 

separations was little changed in all four regions. (See table 6.)

Net Change in Employment

Large numbers of hires and separations occur every month throughout the business cycle. Net 

employment change results from the relationship between hires and separations. When the number of 

hires exceeds the number of separations, employment rises, even if the hires level is steady or declining. 

Conversely, when the number of hires is less than the number of separations, employment declines, even 

if the hires level is steady or rising. Over the 12 months ending in December, hires totaled 64.7 million 

and separations totaled 62.6 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.2 million. These totals 

include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey results for January 2018 are scheduled to be 

released on Friday, March 16, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).

Revisions to the JOLTS Data

With the release of January 2018 data on March 16, 2018, BLS will revise the job openings, hires, 

and separations data to incorporate the annual updates to the Current Employment Statistics 

employment estimates and the JOLTS seasonal adjustment factors. Unadjusted data and seasonally 

adjusted data from January 2013 forward are subject to revision.
Table A. Job openings, hires, and total separations by industry, seasonally adjusted

Category

Job openings Hires Total separations

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

LEVELS BY INDUSTRY

(in thousands)

Total................................................... 5,539 5,978 5,811 5,303 5,493 5,488 5,084 5,212 5,238

Total private....................................... 5,065 5,466 5,290 4,984 5,119 5,129 4,754 4,863 4,885

Mining and logging1............................ 17 20 21 22 36 32 22 30 36

Construction1................................... 140 210 158 400 346 336 369 334 306

Manufacturing.................................. 342 404 364 293 343 352 287 317 329

Durable goods1.............................. 194 248 228 171 196 205 163 173 187

Nondurable goods1

.......................... 148 156 136 122 147 147 124 144 142

Trade, transportation, and utilities........... 1,014 1,138 1,084 1,009 1,035 1,046 958 1,002 1,031

Wholesale trade1............................ 182 177 207 130 146 144 142 123 143

Retail trade................................... 650 788 703 672 684 690 631 688 673

Transportation, warehousing, and

utilities1

..................................... 182 173 174 208 206 212 185 191 216

Information1

..................................... 81 79 112 79 78 90 82 69 85

Financial activities.............................. 357 345 348 190 195 191 162 172 174

Finance and insurance..................... 272 270 267 126 127 126 107 131 122

Real estate and rental and leasing1. . . . .. 85 75 81 64 68 65 55 41 52

Professional and business services......... 989 1,075 956 1,140 1,181 1,191 1,132 1,177 1,143

Education and health services............... 1,158 1,108 1,136 642 688 667 596 623 624

Educational services1

....................... 93 100 74 78 99 107 73 84 95

Health care and social assistance. . . . . . .. 1,065 1,008 1,062 564 588 561 522 539 529

Leisure and hospitality........................ 730 848 890 1,031 1,014 1,014 974 978 969

Arts, entertainment, and recreation. . . . . .. 89 75 82 162 159 153 156 167 141

Accommodation and food services. . . . . .. 640 773 808 869 855 861 817 811 828

Other services1................................. 236 240 221 178 205 209 172 162 188

Government....................................... 474 511 521 319 373 359 330 348 352

Federal1

......................................... 110 71 84 45 39 32 41 38 33

State and local................................. 364 440 437 275 334 327 289 311 319

State and local education.................. 143 165 170 137 171 169 133 148 165

State and local, excluding education1

. . .. 220 275 267 137 164 157 156 162 154

RATES BY INDUSTRY

(percent)

Total................................................... 3.7 3.9 3.8 3.6 3.7 3.7 3.5 3.5 3.6

Total private....................................... 4.0 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 3.9 3.9 3.9

Mining and logging1

............................ 2.5 2.7 2.8 3.2 5.0 4.4 3.3 4.1 5.0

Construction1

................................... 2.0 2.9 2.2 5.9 5.0 4.8 5.4 4.8 4.4

Manufacturing.................................. 2.7 3.1 2.8 2.4 2.7 2.8 2.3 2.5 2.6

Durable goods1

.............................. 2.5 3.1 2.8 2.2 2.5 2.6 2.1 2.2 2.4

Nondurable goods1.......................... 3.1 3.2 2.8 2.6 3.1 3.1 2.7 3.1 3.0

Trade, transportation, and utilities........... 3.6 4.0 3.8 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.5 3.6 3.8

Wholesale trade1

............................ 3.0 2.9 3.4 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.1 2.4

Retail trade................................... 3.9 4.7 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.0 4.3 4.3

Transportation, warehousing, and

utilities1

..................................... 3.1 3.0 3.0 3.7 3.6 3.7 3.3 3.4 3.8

Information1

..................................... 2.8 2.8 4.0 2.8 2.9 3.3 3.0 2.5 3.1

Financial activities.............................. 4.1 3.9 3.9 2.3 2.3 2.3 1.9 2.0 2.1

Finance and insurance..................... 4.2 4.1 4.1 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.7 2.1 2.0

Real estate and rental and leasing1. . . . .. 3.8 3.3 3.5 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.5 1.8 2.3

Professional and business services......... 4.6 4.9 4.4 5.6 5.6 5.7 5.5 5.6 5.5

Education and health services............... 4.8 4.5 4.6 2.8 3.0 2.9 2.6 2.7 2.7

Educational services1

....................... 2.5 2.6 2.0 2.2 2.7 2.9 2.0 2.3 2.6

Health care and social assistance. . . . . . .. 5.2 4.9 5.1 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.7 2.7 2.7

Leisure and hospitality........................ 4.4 5.0 5.3 6.5 6.3 6.3 6.2 6.1 6.0

Arts, entertainment, and recreation. . . . . .. 3.8 3.2 3.5 7.2 7.0 6.7 7.0 7.3 6.2

Accommodation and food services. . . . . .. 4.5 5.3 5.5 6.4 6.2 6.3 6.1 5.9 6.0

Other services1

................................. 4.0 4.0 3.7 3.1 3.5 3.6 3.0 2.8 3.2

See footnotes at end of table.
Table A. Job openings, hires, and total separations by industry, seasonally adjusted — Continued

Category

Job openings Hires Total separations

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Government....................................... 2.1 2.2 2.3 1.4 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.6

Federal1

......................................... 3.8 2.5 2.9 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.4 1.4 1.2

State and local................................. 1.8 2.2 2.2 1.4 1.7 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.6

State and local education.................. 1.4 1.6 1.6 1.3 1.6 1.6 1.3 1.4 1.6

State and local, excluding education1

. . .. 2.4 2.9 2.8 1.5 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.7

1 No regular seasonal movements could be identified in the job openings series, therefore, the seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted data

are identical.

p Preliminary
Technical Note

This news release presents statistics from the Job 

Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The 

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects and compiles 

JOLTS data monthly from a sample of nonfarm 

establishments. A more detailed discussion of JOLTS 

concepts and methodology is available online at

www.bls.gov/opub/hom/pdf/homch18.pdf.

Coverage and collection

The JOLTS program covers all private nonfarm establishments, as well as federal, state, and local government 

entities in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data 

are collected for total employment, job openings, hires, 

quits, layoffs and discharges, other separations, and total 

separations.

Concepts

Industry classification. The industry classifications in 

this release are in accordance with the 2012 version of the 

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Employment. Employment includes persons on the 

payroll who worked or received pay for the pay period 

that includes the 12th day of the reference month. Fulltime, part-time, permanent, short-term, seasonal, salaried, 

and hourly employees are included, as are employees on 

paid vacations or other paid leave. Proprietors or partners 

of unincorporated businesses, unpaid family workers, or 

persons on leave without pay or on strike for the entire 

pay period, are not counted as employed. Employees of 

temporary help agencies, employee leasing companies, 

outside contractors, and consultants are counted by their 

employer of record, not by the establishment where they 

are working.

Job openings. Job openings information is collected for 

the last business day of the reference month. A job 

opening requires that: 1) a specific position exists and 

there is work available for that position, 2) work could 

start within 30 days whether or not the employer found a 

suitable candidate, and 3) the employer is actively 

recruiting from outside the establishment to fill the 

position. Included are full-time, part-time, permanent, 

short-term, and seasonal openings. Active recruiting 

means that the establishment is taking steps to fill a 

position by advertising in newspapers or on the Internet, 

posting help-wanted signs, accepting applications, or 

using other similar methods.

Jobs to be filled only by internal transfers, promotions, 

demotions, or recall from layoffs are excluded. Also 

excluded are jobs with start dates more than 30 days in 

the future, jobs for which employees have been hired but 

have not yet reported for work, and jobs to be filled by 

employees of temporary help agencies, employee leasing 

companies, outside contractors, or consultants. The job 

openings rate is computed by dividing the number of job 

openings by the sum of employment and job openings and 

multiplying that quotient by 100.

Hires. The hires level is the total number of additions to 

the payroll occurring at any time during the reference 

month, including both new and rehired employees, fulltime and part-time, permanent, short-term and seasonal 

employees, employees recalled to the location after a 

layoff lasting more than 7 days, on-call or intermittent 

employees who returned to work after having been 

formally separated, and transfers from other locations. 

The hires count does not include transfers or promotions 

within the reporting site, employees returning from strike, 

employees of temporary help agencies or employee 

leasing companies, outside contractors, or consultants. 

The hires rate is computed by dividing the number of 

hires by employment and multiplying that quotient by 

100.

Separations. The separations level is the total number of 

employment terminations occurring at any time during the 

reference month, and is reported by type of separation—

quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. 

(Some respondents are only able to report total 

separations.) The quits count includes voluntary 

separations by employees (except for retirements, which 

are reported as other separations). The layoffs and 

discharges count is comprised of involuntary separations 

initiated by the employer and includes layoffs with no 

intent to rehire; formal layoffs lasting or expected to last 

more than 7 days; discharges resulting from mergers, 

downsizing, or closings; firings or other discharges for 

cause; terminations of permanent or short-term 

employees; and terminations of seasonal employees. The 

other separations count includes retirements, transfers to 

other locations, deaths, and separations due to disability. 

The separations count does not include transfers within 

the same location or employees on strike. The separations 

rate is computed by dividing the number of separations by 

employment and multiplying that quotient by 100. The 

quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations rates 

are computed similarly.

Annual estimates. Annual levels for hires, quits, layoffs 

and discharges, other separations, and total separations 

are the sum of the 12 published monthly levels. Annual 

rates are computed by dividing the annual level by the 

Current Employment Statistics (CES) annual average 

employment level, and multiplying that quotient by 100. 

This figure will be approximately equal to the sum of the 

12 monthly rates. Consistent with BLS practice, annual 

estimates are published only for not seasonally adjusted 

data and are released with the January news release each 

year. Annual estimates are not calculated for job openings 

because job openings are a stock, or point-in-time, 

measurement for the last business day of each month.
Sample and estimation methodology

The JOLTS survey design is a stratified random sample of 

16,000 nonfarm business and government establishments. 

The sample is stratified by ownership, region, industry 

sector, and establishment size class. The establishments 

are drawn from a universe of over 9.1 million 

establishments compiled by the Quarterly Census of 

Employment and Wages (QCEW) program which

includes all employers subject to state unemployment 

insurance laws and federal agencies subject to the 

Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees

program.

JOLTS total employment estimates are benchmarked, or 

ratio adjusted, monthly to the strike-adjusted employment 

estimates of the CES survey. A ratio of CES to JOLTS 

employment is used to adjust the levels for all other 

JOLTS data elements.

JOLTS business birth/death model

As with any sample survey, the JOLTS sample can only 

be as current as its sampling frame. The time lag from the 

birth of an establishment until its appearance on the 

sampling frame is approximately one year. In addition, 

many of these new units may fail within the first year. 

Since these universe units cannot be reflected on the 

sampling frame immediately, the JOLTS sample cannot 

capture job openings, hires, and separations from these 

units during their early existence. To compensate for the 

inability to capture data from these establishments, BLS 

has developed a birth/death model that uses birth and 

death activity from previous years. The estimates of job 

openings, hires, and separations produced by the 

birth/death model are added to the sample-based estimates 

produced from the survey to arrive at the estimates for 

openings, hires, and separations.

Seasonal adjustment

BLS uses X-13 ARIMA to seasonally adjust several 

JOLTS series utilizing moving averages as seasonal 

filters. A concurrent seasonal adjustment methodology is 

used in which new seasonal adjustment factors are 

calculated each month, using all relevant data, up to and 

including current month data. JOLTS seasonal adjustment 

includes both additive and multiplicative models and 

REGARIMA (regression with auto-correlated errors) 

modeling to improve the seasonal adjustment factors at 

the beginning and end of the series and to detect and 

adjust for outliers in the series.

Alignment procedure

The JOLTS measures for hires minus separations can be 

used to derive a measure of net employment change. This 

change should be comparable to the net employment 

change from the much larger CES survey. However, 

definitional differences as well as sampling and nonsampling errors between the two surveys historically 

caused JOLTS to diverge from CES over time. To limit 

the divergence, and improve the quality of the JOLTS 

hires and separations series, BLS implemented the 

Monthly Alignment Method.

This method applies the CES employment trends to the 

seasonally adjusted JOLTS implied employment trend 

(hires minus separations) forcing them to be 

approximately the same, while preserving the seasonality 

of the JOLTS data. First, the two series are seasonally 

adjusted and the difference between the JOLTS implied 

employment change and the CES net employment change 

is calculated. Next, the JOLTS implied employment 

change is adjusted to equal the CES net employment 

change through a proportional adjustment. This procedure 

adjusts the two components (hires, separations) 

proportionally to their contribution to the total churn 

(hires plus separations). The adjusted hires and 

separations are converted back to not seasonally adjusted 

data by reversing the application of the original seasonal 

factors. After the Monthly Alignment Method has been 

used to adjust the level estimates, rate estimates are 

computed from the adjusted levels. 

Reliability of the estimates

JOLTS estimates are subject to both sampling and 

nonsampling error. When a sample is surveyed rather than 

the entire population, there is a chance that the sample 

estimates may differ from the "true" population values 

they represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, 

varies depending on the particular sample selected, and 

this variability is measured by the standard error of the 

estimate. BLS analysis is generally conducted at the 90-

percent level of confidence. That means that there is a 90-

percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate 

based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6 

standard errors from the "true" population value because 

of sampling error. Sampling error estimates are available

at www.bls.gov/jlt/jolts_median_standard_errors.htm.

The JOLTS estimates also are affected by non-sampling 

error. Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, 

including the failure to include a segment of the 

population, the inability to obtain data from all units in 

the sample, the inability or unwillingness of respondents 

to provide data on a timely basis, mistakes made by 

respondents, errors made in the collection or processing 

of the data, and errors from the employment benchmark 

data used in estimation.

Other information

Information in this release will be made available to 

sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 

(202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.
Table 1. Job openings levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total............................................... 5,539 6,090 6,177 5,925 5,978 5,811 3.7 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.9 3.8

INDUSTRY

Total private................................... 5,065 5,584 5,650 5,408 5,466 5,290 4.0 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.2 4.1

Mining and logging3

....................... 17 25 20 27 20 21 2.5 3.4 2.7 3.6 2.7 2.8

Construction3............................... 140 230 179 195 210 158 2.0 3.2 2.5 2.7 2.9 2.2

Manufacturing.............................. 342 435 435 409 404 364 2.7 3.4 3.4 3.2 3.1 2.8

Durable goods3

.......................... 194 248 262 247 248 228 2.5 3.1 3.3 3.1 3.1 2.8

Nondurable goods3

...................... 148 187 173 162 156 136 3.1 3.8 3.6 3.3 3.2 2.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities. . . . . .. 1,014 1,116 1,147 967 1,138 1,084 3.6 3.9 4.0 3.4 4.0 3.8

Wholesale trade3

........................ 182 207 219 135 177 207 3.0 3.4 3.6 2.2 2.9 3.4

Retail trade............................... 650 643 691 623 788 703 3.9 3.9 4.2 3.8 4.7 4.3

Transportation, warehousing, and

utilities3

................................. 182 266 238 210 173 174 3.1 4.5 4.0 3.6 3.0 3.0

Information3................................. 81 122 113 74 79 112 2.8 4.3 4.0 2.6 2.8 4.0

Financial activities......................... 357 341 384 380 345 348 4.1 3.9 4.3 4.3 3.9 3.9

Finance and insurance................. 272 267 307 264 270 267 4.2 4.1 4.7 4.0 4.1 4.1

Real estate and rental and leasing3

... 85 74 77 116 75 81 3.8 3.3 3.4 5.0 3.3 3.5

Professional and business services. . . .. 989 1,037 1,171 1,110 1,075 956 4.6 4.7 5.3 5.0 4.9 4.4

Education and health services........... 1,158 1,191 1,133 1,102 1,108 1,136 4.8 4.9 4.7 4.5 4.5 4.6

Educational services3

................... 93 104 96 94 100 74 2.5 2.8 2.6 2.5 2.6 2.0

Health care and social assistance. . .. 1,065 1,087 1,037 1,009 1,008 1,062 5.2 5.3 5.0 4.9 4.9 5.1

Leisure and hospitality.................... 730 859 770 848 848 890 4.4 5.1 4.6 5.0 5.0 5.3

Arts, entertainment, and recreation. .. 89 80 88 79 75 82 3.8 3.4 3.7 3.3 3.2 3.5

Accommodation and food services. .. 640 778 682 769 773 808 4.5 5.4 4.8 5.3 5.3 5.5

Other services3

............................. 236 228 297 296 240 221 4.0 3.8 4.9 4.9 4.0 3.7

Government................................... 474 506 527 517 511 521 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.3

Federal3

..................................... 110 66 75 73 71 84 3.8 2.3 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.9

State and local............................. 364 440 453 444 440 437 1.8 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.2 2.2

State and local education.............. 143 146 173 166 165 170 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6

State and local, excluding

education3

............................. 220 294 280 278 275 267 2.4 3.1 3.0 3.0 2.9 2.8

REGION4

Northeast...................................... 967 1,102 1,066 1,011 1,010 996 3.5 3.9 3.8 3.6 3.6 3.5

South........................................... 2,008 2,125 2,174 2,072 2,146 2,029 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.7 3.8 3.6

Midwest........................................ 1,253 1,520 1,595 1,507 1,479 1,402 3.7 4.4 4.7 4.4 4.3 4.1

West............................................ 1,312 1,343 1,342 1,335 1,343 1,384 3.8 3.9 3.9 3.8 3.8 3.9

1

Job openings are the number of job openings on the last business day of the month.

2 The job openings rate is the number of job openings on the last business day of the month as a percent of total employment plus job openings.

3 No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted

series.

4 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary
Table 2. Hires levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total............................................... 5,303 5,420 5,320 5,592 5,493 5,488 3.6 3.7 3.6 3.8 3.7 3.7

INDUSTRY

Total private................................... 4,984 5,079 4,976 5,257 5,119 5,129 4.1 4.1 4.0 4.2 4.1 4.1

Mining and logging......................... 22 36 28 35 36 32 3.2 5.0 3.9 4.8 5.0 4.4

Construction................................ 400 370 389 384 346 336 5.9 5.4 5.6 5.5 5.0 4.8

Manufacturing.............................. 293 359 329 344 343 352 2.4 2.9 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.8

Durable goods........................... 171 211 189 198 196 205 2.2 2.7 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.6

Nondurable goods....................... 122 148 140 146 147 147 2.6 3.2 3.0 3.1 3.1 3.1

Trade, transportation, and utilities. . . . . .. 1,009 1,029 1,035 1,044 1,035 1,046 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8

Wholesale trade......................... 130 149 139 155 146 144 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.6 2.4 2.4

Retail trade............................... 672 684 689 688 684 690 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.4

Transportation, warehousing, and

utilities.................................. 208 196 208 200 206 212 3.7 3.5 3.7 3.5 3.6 3.7

Information.................................. 79 79 78 74 78 90 2.8 2.9 2.9 2.7 2.9 3.3

Financial activities......................... 190 213 189 213 195 191 2.3 2.5 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.3

Finance and insurance................. 126 135 121 136 127 126 2.0 2.2 1.9 2.2 2.0 2.0

Real estate and rental and leasing. .. 64 78 68 77 68 65 3.0 3.5 3.1 3.5 3.0 2.9

Professional and business services. . . .. 1,140 1,123 1,150 1,181 1,181 1,191 5.6 5.4 5.5 5.7 5.6 5.7

Education and health services........... 642 662 627 677 688 667 2.8 2.9 2.7 2.9 3.0 2.9

Educational services.................... 78 98 87 84 99 107 2.2 2.7 2.4 2.3 2.7 2.9

Health care and social assistance. . .. 564 564 541 593 588 561 2.9 2.9 2.8 3.0 3.0 2.9

Leisure and hospitality.................... 1,031 989 961 1,060 1,014 1,014 6.5 6.2 6.1 6.6 6.3 6.3

Arts, entertainment, and recreation. .. 162 160 146 162 159 153 7.2 7.0 6.4 7.1 7.0 6.7

Accommodation and food services. .. 869 830 815 899 855 861 6.4 6.0 6.0 6.5 6.2 6.3

Other services.............................. 178 219 188 246 205 209 3.1 3.8 3.2 4.2 3.5 3.6

Government................................... 319 340 344 336 373 359 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.7 1.6

Federal...................................... 45 36 38 43 39 32 1.6 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.4 1.2

State and local............................. 275 305 306 292 334 327 1.4 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.7

State and local education.............. 137 144 138 158 171 169 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.5 1.6 1.6

State and local, excluding

education.............................. 137 160 169 135 164 157 1.5 1.8 1.8 1.5 1.8 1.7

REGION3

Northeast...................................... 849 801 821 952 789 786 3.2 3.0 3.0 3.5 2.9 2.9

South........................................... 2,074 2,167 2,121 2,217 2,260 2,260 3.9 4.1 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.2

Midwest........................................ 1,176 1,207 1,181 1,201 1,182 1,210 3.6 3.7 3.6 3.7 3.6 3.7

West............................................ 1,205 1,245 1,197 1,222 1,261 1,231 3.6 3.7 3.6 3.6 3.8 3.7

1 Hires are the number of hires during the entire month.

2 The hires rate is the number of hires during the entire month as a percent of total employment.

3 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary
Table 3. Total separations levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total............................................... 5,084 5,273 5,244 5,251 5,212 5,238 3.5 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.5 3.6

INDUSTRY

Total private................................... 4,754 4,932 4,910 4,910 4,863 4,885 3.9 4.0 3.9 3.9 3.9 3.9

Mining and logging......................... 22 27 23 32 30 36 3.3 3.7 3.1 4.4 4.1 5.0

Construction................................ 369 337 378 361 334 306 5.4 4.9 5.5 5.2 4.8 4.4

Manufacturing.............................. 287 301 315 309 317 329 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.6

Durable goods........................... 163 172 179 176 173 187 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.3 2.2 2.4

Nondurable goods....................... 124 128 136 133 144 142 2.7 2.7 2.9 2.8 3.1 3.0

Trade, transportation, and utilities. . . . . .. 958 1,020 977 994 1,002 1,031 3.5 3.7 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.8

Wholesale trade......................... 142 157 122 133 123 143 2.4 2.7 2.1 2.2 2.1 2.4

Retail trade............................... 631 676 668 677 688 673 4.0 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.3

Transportation, warehousing, and

utilities.................................. 185 187 187 183 191 216 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.2 3.4 3.8

Information.................................. 82 83 96 72 69 85 3.0 3.0 3.5 2.7 2.5 3.1

Financial activities......................... 162 212 180 204 172 174 1.9 2.5 2.1 2.4 2.0 2.1

Finance and insurance................. 107 131 116 136 131 122 1.7 2.1 1.9 2.2 2.1 2.0

Real estate and rental and leasing. .. 55 81 64 68 41 52 2.5 3.7 2.9 3.1 1.8 2.3

Professional and business services. . . .. 1,132 1,059 1,119 1,143 1,177 1,143 5.5 5.1 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.5

Education and health services........... 596 633 600 642 623 624 2.6 2.7 2.6 2.8 2.7 2.7

Educational services.................... 73 77 74 89 84 95 2.0 2.1 2.0 2.4 2.3 2.6

Health care and social assistance. . .. 522 556 525 553 539 529 2.7 2.8 2.7 2.8 2.7 2.7

Leisure and hospitality.................... 974 998 1,020 933 978 969 6.2 6.2 6.4 5.8 6.1 6.0

Arts, entertainment, and recreation. .. 156 164 159 141 167 141 7.0 7.2 7.0 6.2 7.3 6.2

Accommodation and food services. .. 817 834 861 792 811 828 6.1 6.1 6.3 5.8 5.9 6.0

Other services.............................. 172 263 202 219 162 188 3.0 4.6 3.5 3.8 2.8 3.2

Government................................... 330 341 334 341 348 352 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.6

Federal...................................... 41 37 37 41 38 33 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.2

State and local............................. 289 304 297 301 311 319 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.6

State and local education.............. 133 141 129 157 148 165 1.3 1.4 1.2 1.5 1.4 1.6

State and local, excluding

education.............................. 156 162 168 144 162 154 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.6 1.8 1.7

REGION3

Northeast...................................... 812 872 900 815 825 798 3.0 3.2 3.3 3.0 3.0 2.9

South........................................... 1,966 2,007 2,009 2,160 2,174 2,069 3.7 3.8 3.8 4.0 4.1 3.9

Midwest........................................ 1,128 1,180 1,168 1,134 1,081 1,198 3.5 3.6 3.6 3.5 3.3 3.7

West............................................ 1,178 1,213 1,167 1,142 1,132 1,173 3.5 3.6 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.5

1 Total separations are the number of total separations during the entire month.

2 The total separations rate is the number of total separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment.

3 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary
Table 4. Quits levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total............................................... 3,085 3,093 3,180 3,187 3,161 3,259 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.2

INDUSTRY

Total private................................... 2,915 2,929 3,014 3,020 2,978 3,083 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.5

Mining and logging......................... 12 11 15 20 15 19 1.9 1.5 2.1 2.8 2.1 2.7

Construction................................ 134 140 154 164 140 128 2.0 2.0 2.2 2.4 2.0 1.8

Manufacturing.............................. 165 185 189 192 197 210 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.7

Durable goods........................... 89 98 107 109 108 118 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.5

Nondurable goods....................... 75 86 81 83 89 91 1.6 1.8 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.9

Trade, transportation, and utilities. . . . . .. 623 639 619 655 639 675 2.3 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.5

Wholesale trade......................... 94 85 82 93 86 100 1.6 1.4 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.7

Retail trade............................... 432 456 435 455 440 460 2.7 2.9 2.7 2.9 2.8 2.9

Transportation, warehousing, and

utilities.................................. 97 98 101 107 113 115 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.0

Information.................................. 49 46 55 46 43 47 1.8 1.7 2.0 1.7 1.6 1.7

Financial activities......................... 78 118 112 121 115 119 0.9 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4

Finance and insurance................. 59 73 78 78 92 87 0.9 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.5 1.4

Real estate and rental and leasing3... 19 45 34 43 23 31 0.9 2.0 1.5 1.9 1.0 1.4

Professional and business services. . . .. 672 590 663 657 713 721 3.3 2.8 3.2 3.1 3.4 3.4

Education and health services........... 409 395 403 437 411 421 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.9 1.8 1.8

Educational services.................... 41 47 43 44 48 55 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.5

Health care and social assistance. . .. 367 349 360 393 362 366 1.9 1.8 1.8 2.0 1.8 1.9

Leisure and hospitality.................... 688 639 675 619 638 667 4.4 4.0 4.2 3.9 4.0 4.2

Arts, entertainment, and recreation. .. 73 60 48 61 73 69 3.2 2.7 2.1 2.7 3.2 3.0

Accommodation and food services. .. 615 579 627 557 565 598 4.6 4.2 4.6 4.1 4.1 4.3

Other services3

............................. 86 166 131 109 69 75 1.5 2.9 2.3 1.9 1.2 1.3

Government................................... 170 164 166 167 183 176 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8

Federal...................................... 15 15 15 15 18 14 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.5

State and local............................. 155 149 151 152 165 162 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8

State and local education.............. 70 75 69 81 82 82 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8

State and local, excluding

education.............................. 85 73 82 71 83 80 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.9

REGION4

Northeast...................................... 440 447 434 431 444 427 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6

South........................................... 1,250 1,205 1,273 1,395 1,315 1,316 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.5 2.5

Midwest........................................ 664 688 755 660 671 744 2.1 2.1 2.3 2.0 2.0 2.3

West............................................ 730 752 718 700 732 773 2.2 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.3

1 Quits are the number of quits during the entire month.

2 The quits rate is the number of quits during the entire month as a percent of total employment.

3 No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted

series.

4 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary
Table 5. Layoffs and discharges levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total............................................... 1,624 1,781 1,746 1,693 1,725 1,645 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1

INDUSTRY

Total private................................... 1,525 1,667 1,643 1,581 1,620 1,521 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2

Mining and logging3

....................... 6 13 6 11 13 16 0.9 1.9 0.9 1.5 1.8 2.2

Construction................................ 214 187 217 177 187 168 3.2 2.7 3.1 2.5 2.7 2.4

Manufacturing.............................. 100 96 101 94 100 101 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8

Durable goods........................... 57 63 57 54 52 57 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7

Nondurable goods....................... 43 33 44 40 48 45 0.9 0.7 0.9 0.8 1.0 0.9

Trade, transportation, and utilities. . . . . .. 247 320 280 268 291 288 0.9 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0

Wholesale trade3

........................ 36 64 36 36 31 33 0.6 1.1 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5

Retail trade............................... 142 178 171 171 193 166 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.0

Transportation, warehousing, and

utilities.................................. 69 78 72 61 67 89 1.2 1.4 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.6

Information.................................. 23 30 29 23 20 30 0.8 1.1 1.1 0.8 0.7 1.1

Financial activities......................... 61 60 44 62 43 40 0.7 0.7 0.5 0.7 0.5 0.5

Finance and insurance................. 29 28 19 38 26 23 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.4 0.4

Real estate and rental and leasing. .. 32 31 26 24 17 17 1.5 1.4 1.2 1.1 0.8 0.8

Professional and business services. . . .. 401 395 432 402 400 372 2.0 1.9 2.1 1.9 1.9 1.8

Education and health services........... 142 179 150 161 170 146 0.6 0.8 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.6

Educational services.................... 28 23 30 39 33 36 0.8 0.6 0.8 1.1 0.9 1.0

Health care and social assistance. . .. 114 156 121 122 137 110 0.6 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.6

Leisure and hospitality.................... 256 314 317 277 311 267 1.6 2.0 2.0 1.7 1.9 1.7

Arts, entertainment, and recreation. .. 81 99 108 78 89 67 3.6 4.4 4.8 3.4 3.9 2.9

Accommodation and food services. .. 175 215 209 198 222 200 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.6 1.5

Other services.............................. 75 74 66 106 84 95 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.8 1.4 1.6

Government................................... 99 114 103 112 105 123 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6

Federal...................................... 13 13 11 13 12 10 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4

State and local............................. 86 101 92 100 93 113 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6

State and local education.............. 40 41 34 50 45 60 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.6

State and local, excluding

education.............................. 46 60 58 50 47 53 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.6

REGION4

Northeast...................................... 310 360 412 316 322 304 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.2 1.2 1.1

South........................................... 566 654 632 617 728 628 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.2

Midwest........................................ 387 409 335 401 346 383 1.2 1.3 1.0 1.2 1.1 1.2

West............................................ 361 358 367 360 330 329 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0

1

Layoffs and discharges are the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month.

2 The layoffs and discharges rate is the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month as a percent of total employment.

3 No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted

series.

4 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary
Table 6. Other separations levels and rates by industry and region, seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Aug.

2017

Sept.

2017

Oct.

2017

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total............................................... 375 398 318 372 326 334 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2

INDUSTRY

Total private................................... 314 335 252 310 265 281 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Mining and logging......................... 4 2 2 1 2 1 0.6 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Construction3

............................... 20 10 6 20 8 10 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.1

Manufacturing.............................. 23 20 26 23 21 18 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1

Durable goods........................... 17 11 15 13 14 12 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Nondurable goods3...................... 6 9 11 10 6 6 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1

Trade, transportation, and utilities. . . . . .. 88 60 78 71 72 69 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

Wholesale trade......................... 13 8 3 4 6 10 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2

Retail trade............................... 57 41 61 51 55 47 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3

Transportation, warehousing, and

utilities3

................................. 18 11 13 15 11 12 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2

Information3................................. 10 7 12 4 6 9 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.3

Financial activities......................... 23 35 24 21 14 15 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2

Finance and insurance................. 20 30 19 19 13 12 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2

Real estate and rental and leasing3... 4 5 5 1 1 4 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.2

Professional and business services. . . .. 59 74 25 84 64 50 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.2

Education and health services........... 45 59 46 44 42 57 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Educational services3................... 4 8 2 5 2 4 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Health care and social assistance3

. .. 41 51 44 38 40 53 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3

Leisure and hospitality.................... 30 45 29 38 29 35 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Arts, entertainment, and recreation3

... 3 4 3 2 5 4 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2

Accommodation and food services3... 27 41 26 36 25 30 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2

Other services3............................. 12 23 5 4 9 17 0.2 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3

Government................................... 62 63 66 62 61 53 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2

Federal...................................... 13 10 11 13 8 9 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3

State and local............................. 49 53 55 49 53 44 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2

State and local education.............. 23 24 27 26 21 22 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2

State and local, excluding

education.............................. 26 29 28 23 32 21 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2

REGION4

Northeast...................................... 62 66 54 68 60 67 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

South........................................... 150 148 104 148 131 125 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2

Midwest........................................ 77 83 78 73 64 70 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

West............................................ 86 102 82 83 70 72 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

1 Other separations are the number of other separations during the entire month.

2 The other separations rate is the number of other separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment.

3 No regular seasonal movements could be identified in this series; therefore, identical numbers appear for the unadjusted and seasonally adjusted

series.

4 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary

NOTE: Levels are rounded to the nearest thousand and rates are rounded to the nearest tenth. Levels and rates may round down to zero.
Table 7. Job openings levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total..................................................................... 5,116 5,748 5,359 3.4 3.7 3.5

INDUSTRY

Total private.......................................................... 4,658 5,250 4,857 3.6 4.0 3.7

Mining and logging............................................... 17 20 21 2.5 2.7 2.8

Construction....................................................... 140 210 158 2.1 2.9 2.2

Manufacturing..................................................... 342 404 364 2.7 3.1 2.8

Durable goods.................................................. 194 248 228 2.5 3.1 2.8

Nondurable goods............................................. 148 156 136 3.1 3.2 2.8

Trade, transportation, and utilities.............................. 927 1,107 1,008 3.2 3.8 3.4

Wholesale trade................................................ 182 177 207 3.0 2.9 3.4

Retail trade..................................................... 563 757 627 3.3 4.4 3.7

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities.................. 182 173 174 3.0 2.9 2.9

Information........................................................ 81 79 112 2.8 2.8 3.9

Financial activities................................................ 349 326 336 4.0 3.7 3.8

Finance and insurance........................................ 264 251 255 4.1 3.9 3.9

Real estate and rental and leasing.......................... 85 75 81 3.8 3.3 3.5

Professional and business services............................ 880 1,046 808 4.1 4.7 3.7

Education and health services.................................. 1,116 1,057 1,102 4.6 4.3 4.5

Educational services.......................................... 93 100 74 2.5 2.5 1.9

Health care and social assistance........................... 1,023 957 1,028 5.0 4.6 5.0

Leisure and hospitality........................................... 569 762 727 3.6 4.6 4.4

Arts, entertainment, and recreation.......................... 62 64 59 2.9 2.9 2.7

Accommodation and food services.......................... 507 698 669 3.7 4.9 4.7

Other services.................................................... 236 240 221 4.0 4.0 3.7

Government.......................................................... 458 499 502 2.0 2.1 2.2

Federal............................................................. 110 71 84 3.7 2.5 2.9

State and local.................................................... 348 427 419 1.7 2.1 2.1

State and local education..................................... 127 152 152 1.2 1.4 1.4

State and local, excluding education........................ 220 275 267 2.4 2.9 2.9

REGION3

Northeast............................................................. 935 964 947 3.3 3.4 3.3

South................................................................. 1,873 2,035 1,872 3.4 3.6 3.3

Midwest............................................................... 1,150 1,476 1,301 3.4 4.3 3.8

West.................................................................. 1,158 1,273 1,239 3.4 3.6 3.5

1

Job openings are the number of job openings on the last business day of the month.

2 The job openings rate is the number of job openings on the last business day of the month as a percent of total employment plus job openings.

3 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary
Table 8. Hires levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total..................................................................... 3,905 5,090 4,092 2.7 3.4 2.8

INDUSTRY

Total private.......................................................... 3,711 4,791 3,875 3.0 3.8 3.1

Mining and logging............................................... 15 33 21 2.2 4.5 2.9

Construction....................................................... 231 257 193 3.5 3.6 2.8

Manufacturing..................................................... 196 278 232 1.6 2.2 1.9

Durable goods.................................................. 116 161 140 1.5 2.1 1.8

Nondurable goods............................................. 80 117 92 1.7 2.5 2.0

Trade, transportation, and utilities.............................. 816 1,316 853 2.9 4.7 3.0

Wholesale trade................................................ 95 108 104 1.6 1.8 1.7

Retail trade..................................................... 506 900 513 3.1 5.5 3.1

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities.................. 215 308 235 3.7 5.3 4.0

Information........................................................ 63 74 73 2.3 2.7 2.7

Financial activities................................................ 141 164 139 1.7 1.9 1.6

Finance and insurance........................................ 94 109 94 1.5 1.7 1.5

Real estate and rental and leasing.......................... 46 55 46 2.1 2.5 2.1

Professional and business services............................ 929 1,084 993 4.5 5.1 4.7

Education and health services.................................. 465 567 477 2.0 2.4 2.0

Educational services.......................................... 37 63 52 1.0 1.6 1.4

Health care and social assistance........................... 428 504 425 2.2 2.6 2.2

Leisure and hospitality........................................... 741 859 753 4.8 5.5 4.8

Arts, entertainment, and recreation.......................... 112 114 103 5.4 5.3 4.9

Accommodation and food services.......................... 629 745 650 4.7 5.5 4.8

Other services.................................................... 115 159 140 2.0 2.7 2.4

Government.......................................................... 194 299 217 0.9 1.3 1.0

Federal............................................................. 37 51 28 1.3 1.8 1.0

State and local.................................................... 157 247 189 0.8 1.2 1.0

State and local education..................................... 69 117 88 0.6 1.1 0.8

State and local, excluding education........................ 88 131 101 1.0 1.4 1.1

REGION3

Northeast............................................................. 658 715 582 2.4 2.6 2.1

South................................................................. 1,508 2,073 1,692 2.8 3.8 3.1

Midwest............................................................... 861 1,094 900 2.6 3.3 2.7

West.................................................................. 879 1,208 918 2.6 3.6 2.7

1 Hires are the number of hires during the entire month.

2 The hires rate is the number of hires during the entire month as a percent of total employment.

3 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary
Table 9. Total separations levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total..................................................................... 4,851 4,566 4,978 3.3 3.1 3.4

INDUSTRY

Total private.......................................................... 4,562 4,317 4,665 3.7 3.4 3.7

Mining and logging............................................... 19 27 33 2.9 3.7 4.5

Construction....................................................... 432 327 326 6.5 4.6 4.7

Manufacturing..................................................... 248 271 279 2.0 2.2 2.2

Durable goods.................................................. 137 140 154 1.8 1.8 2.0

Nondurable goods............................................. 111 130 125 2.4 2.8 2.7

Trade, transportation, and utilities.............................. 965 879 1,068 3.4 3.1 3.8

Wholesale trade................................................ 115 105 121 2.0 1.8 2.0

Retail trade..................................................... 644 602 692 3.9 3.7 4.2

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities.................. 206 172 255 3.5 3.0 4.3

Information........................................................ 74 60 79 2.7 2.2 2.9

Financial activities................................................ 153 143 157 1.8 1.7 1.8

Finance and insurance........................................ 102 104 108 1.6 1.7 1.7

Real estate and rental and leasing.......................... 51 39 49 2.3 1.8 2.2

Professional and business services............................ 1,150 1,056 1,160 5.6 5.0 5.5

Education and health services.................................. 512 494 537 2.2 2.1 2.3

Educational services.......................................... 54 46 72 1.5 1.2 1.9

Health care and social assistance........................... 458 448 465 2.4 2.3 2.4

Leisure and hospitality........................................... 845 905 848 5.5 5.8 5.4

Arts, entertainment, and recreation.......................... 130 173 114 6.3 8.1 5.4

Accommodation and food services.......................... 715 733 734 5.4 5.4 5.4

Other services.................................................... 163 156 178 2.9 2.7 3.1

Government.......................................................... 289 249 312 1.3 1.1 1.4

Federal............................................................. 40 37 33 1.4 1.3 1.2

State and local.................................................... 248 211 280 1.3 1.1 1.4

State and local education..................................... 103 74 135 1.0 0.7 1.3

State and local, excluding education........................ 145 137 144 1.6 1.5 1.6

REGION3

Northeast............................................................. 820 726 798 3.0 2.6 2.9

South................................................................. 1,795 1,839 1,871 3.4 3.4 3.5

Midwest............................................................... 1,125 992 1,195 3.5 3.0 3.6

West.................................................................. 1,111 1,010 1,113 3.3 3.0 3.3

1 Total separations are the number of total separations during the entire month.

2 The total separations rate is the number of total separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment.

3 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary
Table 10. Quits levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total..................................................................... 2,614 2,650 2,823 1.8 1.8 1.9

INDUSTRY

Total private.......................................................... 2,483 2,521 2,688 2.0 2.0 2.1

Mining and logging............................................... 10 13 16 1.5 1.7 2.2

Construction....................................................... 104 108 92 1.6 1.5 1.3

Manufacturing..................................................... 121 148 154 1.0 1.2 1.2

Durable goods.................................................. 64 79 86 0.8 1.0 1.1

Nondurable goods............................................. 57 69 68 1.2 1.5 1.4

Trade, transportation, and utilities.............................. 560 550 621 2.0 2.0 2.2

Wholesale trade................................................ 67 70 78 1.1 1.2 1.3

Retail trade..................................................... 393 375 426 2.4 2.3 2.6

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities.................. 99 105 117 1.7 1.8 2.0

Information........................................................ 43 34 42 1.5 1.2 1.5

Financial activities................................................ 66 93 103 0.8 1.1 1.2

Finance and insurance........................................ 47 70 72 0.8 1.1 1.1

Real estate and rental and leasing.......................... 19 23 31 0.9 1.0 1.4

Professional and business services............................ 594 635 676 2.9 3.0 3.2

Education and health services.................................. 336 322 350 1.5 1.4 1.5

Educational services.......................................... 28 30 40 0.8 0.8 1.1

Health care and social assistance........................... 308 292 310 1.6 1.5 1.6

Leisure and hospitality........................................... 565 548 559 3.7 3.5 3.6

Arts, entertainment, and recreation.......................... 52 53 50 2.5 2.5 2.4

Accommodation and food services.......................... 513 495 509 3.8 3.6 3.7

Other services.................................................... 86 69 75 1.5 1.2 1.3

Government.......................................................... 131 130 136 0.6 0.6 0.6

Federal............................................................. 13 16 12 0.5 0.6 0.4

State and local.................................................... 118 114 124 0.6 0.6 0.6

State and local education..................................... 47 49 56 0.4 0.4 0.5

State and local, excluding education........................ 70 65 68 0.8 0.7 0.7

REGION3

Northeast............................................................. 381 372 373 1.4 1.4 1.4

South................................................................. 1,040 1,085 1,111 2.0 2.0 2.1

Midwest............................................................... 559 577 643 1.7 1.7 2.0

West.................................................................. 635 616 696 1.9 1.8 2.1

1 Quits are the number of quits during the entire month.

2 The quits rate is the number of quits during the entire month as a percent of total employment.

3 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary
Table 11. Layoffs and discharges levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total..................................................................... 1,850 1,635 1,817 1.3 1.1 1.2

INDUSTRY

Total private.......................................................... 1,756 1,557 1,693 1.4 1.2 1.3

Mining and logging............................................... 6 13 16 0.9 1.7 2.1

Construction....................................................... 308 211 224 4.6 3.0 3.2

Manufacturing..................................................... 104 106 106 0.8 0.8 0.8

Durable goods.................................................. 56 51 55 0.7 0.7 0.7

Nondurable goods............................................. 49 55 51 1.1 1.2 1.1

Trade, transportation, and utilities.............................. 324 270 384 1.2 1.0 1.4

Wholesale trade................................................ 36 31 33 0.6 0.5 0.5

Retail trade..................................................... 200 184 225 1.2 1.1 1.4

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities.................. 89 55 126 1.5 1.0 2.1

Information........................................................ 21 20 28 0.8 0.7 1.0

Financial activities................................................ 61 37 38 0.7 0.4 0.5

Finance and insurance........................................ 33 22 25 0.5 0.3 0.4

Real estate and rental and leasing.......................... 28 15 14 1.3 0.7 0.6

Professional and business services............................ 484 365 426 2.4 1.7 2.0

Education and health services.................................. 132 130 131 0.6 0.6 0.6

Educational services.......................................... 22 14 28 0.6 0.4 0.8

Health care and social assistance........................... 109 116 102 0.6 0.6 0.5

Leisure and hospitality........................................... 251 328 254 1.6 2.1 1.6

Arts, entertainment, and recreation.......................... 76 115 60 3.7 5.4 2.8

Accommodation and food services.......................... 175 212 194 1.3 1.6 1.4

Other services.................................................... 65 78 86 1.2 1.3 1.5

Government.......................................................... 94 78 123 0.4 0.3 0.5

Federal............................................................. 13 14 10 0.5 0.5 0.3

State and local.................................................... 81 64 114 0.4 0.3 0.6

State and local education..................................... 40 17 64 0.4 0.2 0.6

State and local, excluding education........................ 41 47 49 0.5 0.5 0.5

REGION3

Northeast............................................................. 384 310 362 1.4 1.1 1.3

South................................................................. 591 631 627 1.1 1.2 1.2

Midwest............................................................... 491 362 483 1.5 1.1 1.5

West.................................................................. 385 332 345 1.2 1.0 1.0

1

Layoffs and discharges are the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month.

2 The layoffs and discharges rate is the number of layoffs and discharges during the entire month as a percent of total employment.

3 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary
Table 12. Other separations levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted1

Industry and region

Levels (in thousands) Rates2

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Dec.

2016

Nov.

2017

Dec.

2017p

Total..................................................................... 387 280 338 0.3 0.2 0.2

INDUSTRY

Total private.......................................................... 323 240 285 0.3 0.2 0.2

Mining and logging............................................... 4 1 1 0.5 0.2 0.2

Construction....................................................... 20 8 10 0.3 0.1 0.1

Manufacturing..................................................... 23 16 19 0.2 0.1 0.2

Durable goods.................................................. 17 10 13 0.2 0.1 0.2

Nondurable goods............................................. 6 6 6 0.1 0.1 0.1

Trade, transportation, and utilities.............................. 81 59 63 0.3 0.2 0.2

Wholesale trade................................................ 12 4 11 0.2 0.1 0.2

Retail trade..................................................... 51 44 40 0.3 0.3 0.2

Transportation, warehousing, and utilities.................. 18 11 12 0.3 0.2 0.2

Information........................................................ 10 6 9 0.4 0.2 0.3

Financial activities................................................ 26 13 16 0.3 0.2 0.2

Finance and insurance........................................ 22 12 12 0.4 0.2 0.2

Real estate and rental and leasing.......................... 4 1 4 0.2 0.0 0.2

Professional and business services............................ 72 57 59 0.3 0.3 0.3

Education and health services.................................. 45 42 57 0.2 0.2 0.2

Educational services.......................................... 4 2 4 0.1 0.1 0.1

Health care and social assistance........................... 41 40 53 0.2 0.2 0.3

Leisure and hospitality........................................... 30 29 35 0.2 0.2 0.2

Arts, entertainment, and recreation.......................... 3 5 4 0.1 0.2 0.2

Accommodation and food services.......................... 27 25 30 0.2 0.2 0.2

Other services.................................................... 12 9 17 0.2 0.2 0.3

Government.......................................................... 64 40 53 0.3 0.2 0.2

Federal............................................................. 14 7 11 0.5 0.2 0.4

State and local.................................................... 50 34 42 0.3 0.2 0.2

State and local education..................................... 16 9 15 0.1 0.1 0.1

State and local, excluding education........................ 34 25 27 0.4 0.3 0.3

REGION3

Northeast............................................................. 56 43 63 0.2 0.2 0.2

South................................................................. 164 123 133 0.3 0.2 0.2

Midwest............................................................... 76 52 68 0.2 0.2 0.2

West.................................................................. 91 62 73 0.3 0.2 0.2

1 Other separations are the number of other separations during the entire month.

2 The other separations rate is the number of other separations during the entire month as a percent of total employment.

3 The states (including the District of Columbia) that comprise the regions are: Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont; South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia; Midwest:

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin; West: Alaska, Arizona,

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

p Preliminary

NOTE: Levels are rounded to the nearest thousand and rates are rounded to the nearest tenth. Levels and rates may round down to zero.