The U.S. labor market continues to have resilience. The number of job openings in January JOLTS rose to 6.9 million.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Tuesday shows that the overall U.S. labor market was stable in January 2026. The data revealed that there were approximately 6.9 million job openings, with a forecast of 6.7 million, and a revised previous value of 6.55 million job openings. The number of hires was 5.3 million. At the same time, the total number of separations was 5.1 million, remaining relatively unchanged. Among separations, the number of quits was 3.1 million, while layoffs and discharges were 1.6 million, both in line with previous levels. The JOLTS report measures job openings, hires, and separations in the U.S. nonfarm sector, and provides statistics by industry, region, and business size. Job openings refer to positions that were unfilled at the end of the month, while hires and separations reflect changes in the number of employees in a company throughout the month. Specifically, the job openings rate in January remained at 4.2%. There was a divergence in industries, with the finance and insurance industry seeing an increase of 184,000 job openings, making it one of the few industries with significant growth in job demand. The BLS also updated the data in this report, incorporating the latest employment statistics and seasonal adjustment factors, which may result in revisions to some data since January 2021. In terms of hires, there were 5.3 million in January, with a hiring rate of 3.3%, remaining stable overall. However, some industries experienced declines in hiring, such as a decrease of 67,000 hires in the transportation, warehousing, and utilities sector, and 20,000 fewer hires in the real estate and leasing industry, indicating a slight cooling in labor demand in certain cyclical industries. For separations, the total number was 5.1 million in January, with a separation rate of 3.2%, remaining stable overall. Industry data showed a decrease of 79,000 separations in the transportation, warehousing, and utilities sector, and a decrease of 10,000 separations in the federal government sector. The number of quits remained at 3.1 million, with the quit rate unchanged at 2.0%, which is usually considered an important indicator of employee confidence in job opportunities. The number of quits in the education services industry saw a slight increase of 16,000. Additionally, there were 1.6 million layoffs and discharges, with a rate of 1.0%, showing little change overall. The transportation, warehousing, and utilities industry saw a decrease of 55,000 layoffs and discharges. Other separations types (including retirements, deaths, disabilities, or internal job transfers) amounted to 337,000, also remaining relatively stable. Looking at business size, there were no significant changes in job openings, hires, and separation rates in small businesses with 1 to 9 employees and large businesses with 5,000 or more employees. The BLS also revised the data for December 2025. Job openings were revised up to 6.6 million, actual hires were revised down to 5.3 million, and total separations were revised down to 5.2 million. The number of quits was revised up to 3.2 million, while layoffs and discharges were revised down to 1.7 million. In terms of annual data, 2025 showed a cooling trend in the overall U.S. labor market. The average number of job openings for the year was 7.1 million, a decrease of 571,000 from 2024, with the job openings rate dropping from 4.6% to 4.3%. The total number of hires for the year was 63 million, a decrease of 1.5 million from the previous year. Meanwhile, the total separations for the year were 62.8 million, a decrease of 251,000 from the previous year. In the breakdown of separations, voluntary quits in 2025 decreased by 1.3 million from the previous year to 38 million, accounting for 60.6% of total separations; layoffs and discharges increased by 1.2 million to 21.2 million, accounting for 33.8%; and other separations totaled 3.5 million, accounting for 5.6%. Overall, the average hiring rate in 2025 was 3.3%, slightly lower than the 3.4% in 2024, while the average separation rate was 3.3%, remaining largely unchanged from the previous year. The quit rate was 2.0%, the layoff rate was 1.1%, and the other separation rate was 0.2%. The next JOLTS report will be released on March 31, 2026, revealing job openings, hires, and separations data for February 2026.