LoginConfirming what many public and private reports have already indicated, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) indicates that the economy remained at a virtual standstill in March 2013.
There were 3.8 million jobs open during the month, a slight decrease from the previous months 3.9 million available positions. The open positions rate remained essentially flat between 2012 and 2013.
Layoffs were at a low level, with only 1.3 percent of workers were fired in March, which is slightly lower than the involuntary separation rate of February 2007 – before the recession began, reports the Washington Post. While most employers were not shedding positions during the third month of the year, most workers were not leaving their jobs. The Quits rate, a measure of how many workers left their position of their own volition, was 1.6 percent, down 0.1 percent from the previous month. It is also virtually unchanged from its 1.4 percent level during the depths of the Great Recession.
Between 2012 and 2013, food services and accommodations added positions, while government services and goods manufacturing saw annual declines. The majority of industrial sectors showed little change in positions open year-to-year.