October jobs openings report shows slight uptick with 7.67 million open positions
Construction workers build out a new building (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Tuesday released its October job openings report, which shows job openings up slightly at 7.67 million open positions.
By the numbers:
The 7.67 million is a slight increase from September’s 7.66 million and 7.23 million in August.
The report shows during October, hires and total separations saw little change.
For October, hires were 5.1 million and there were 2.9 million employees who quit and 1.9 million laid off. BLS says the federal government job openings saw a decrease of 25,000.
The backstory:
BLS says job openings include all positions that remain open on the last business day of the month. To be considered an open job, the position needs to meet the following criteria:
- A specific position exists which can be full-time or part-time, permanent, short-term, or seasonal, and there is work available for that position.
- The job could start within 30 days.
- The employer is actively recruiting workers from outside the establishment to fill the position.
The October BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report was delayed due to the federal government shutdown.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This story was reported from Orlando.