Job openings, hires, and quits set record highs in 2019

Data from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey show that the labor market continued to be strong throughout most of 2019, with job openings, hires, total separations, and quits reaching their highest monthly levels since these data series began in December 2000. The job openings level reached 7.5 million in January 2019; the hires level reached 6.0 million in April 2019; the separations level reached 5.8 million in April, July, and December 2019; and the quits level reached 3.6 million in July 2019. The annual hires level increased from 68.6 million in 2018 to 70.0 million in 2019, which is a series high since 2001, the first full year of data. The annual total separations level increased from 66.2 million in 2018 to 67.9 million in 2019, another series high since 2001. Within total separations, annual quits rose from 40.3 million in 2018 to 42.1 million in 2019, which also was a series high.