The number of job openings in the United States was little changed at 7.1 million in November, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Openings were down by 885,000 compared with November 2024, while the job openings rate edged down to 4.3 percent. Hires and total separations both stood at 5.1 million, essentially flat on the month.

The BLS’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed modest but broad-based softening in demand for workers over the past year. Job openings decreased in:

• Accommodation and food services (down 148,000)
• Transportation, warehousing, and utilities (down 108,000)
• Wholesale trade (down 63,000)​

Construction was a notable outlier, with job openings rising by 90,000 in November.

Overall, private-sector job openings fell to 6.5 million, while government openings fell to 695,000, both little changed on the month but lower than a year earlier.

The number of hires in November was little changed at 5.1 million, corresponding to a hires rate of 3.2 percent. Hiring slowed in parts of the public sector:​

• State and local government, excluding education: hires down 39,000
• State and local government education: hires down 31,000

By contrast, hiring increased in the federal government, which added 11,000 hires over the month.

State and local government outside of education saw a decline in separations, down 27,000.

The quits rate, often viewed as a barometer of worker confidence, held at 2.0 percent in November, with 3.2 million people voluntarily leaving their jobs.

Accommodation and food services experienced a surge of 208,000 quits, indicating continued churn in lower-wage, customer-facing jobs.

Layoffs and discharges, at 1.7 million, were also little changed overall and remained relatively subdued, with a rate of 1.1 percent. Several sectors recorded notable declines in layoffs:​

• Accommodation and food services: layoffs down 107,000
• Health care and social assistance: layoffs down 52,000
• State and local government, excluding education: layoffs down 26,000​

The number of “other separation,” which include retirements, deaths, disability, and transfers to other locations, fell to 232,000 in November.

Looking at businesses by size, establishments with 1 to 9 employees and those with 5,000 or more workers showed “little or no change” in job openings, hires, and separations rates in November, according to the BLS. 

The BLS also issued sizeable revisions to October’s figures. Job openings for October were revised down by 221,000 to 7.4 million, while hires were revised up by 219,000 to 5.4 million. Total separations for October were nudged up by 19,000 to 5.1 million.​

Within separations, October quits were revised up by 32,000 to 3.0 million, layoffs and discharges were revised down by 4,000 to 1.9 million, and other separations were revised down by 9,000 to 246,000. 

The next JOLTS release, covering December 2025, is scheduled for February 3.