Job openings are up 259,000 in November to 8.098 million after an upward revision to 7.839 million in October. The November level is above the consensus of 7.650 million in the Econoday survey of forecasters. Job opening for private industry is up 256,000 in part on substantial gains of 114,000 in financial activities and 273,000 in professional and business services with sizeable declines of 83,000 in leisure and hospitality, 89,000 in information, and 56,000 in manufacturing. The job openings rate is 4.8 in November, the highest in six months.

The pace of hiring is down 125,000 to 5.269 million in November after 5.394 million in October. Hiring is down 114,000 for private industries with the largest declines at down 66,000 in professional and business services and 39,000 in manufacturing. Leisure and hospitality hiring is up 74,000 in November. Government hiring is down 11,000, mostly at the state and local level at down 10,000. The hiring rate is 3.3 in November, its lowest in six months.

Job separations are down 180,000 in November to 5.126 million after 5.306 million in October. Total private job separations are down 184,000 in November while government is up 4,000. The separations rate is down a tenth to 3.2 in November. Job quits a subset of separations is down 218,000 to 3.065 million with private industry quits down 223,000 and government up 4,000. Notable is that quits in leisure and hospitality are down 107,000, reflecting much less churn in that segment of the labor market. The quits rate is 1.9 in November after 2.1 in October. Layoffs and discharges another subset of separations is up 17,000 to 1.765 million in November with private layoffs up 19,000 and government down 1,000. Layoffs in leisure and hospitality are up 108,000, but widespread declines offset much of that increase. The layoff and discharges rate is unchanged at 1.1 for the past three months.

Overall, if hiring is slow for November, layoff activity remains low. With more jobs opening up in November, hiring could pick up again. Importantly, fewer workers are changing jobs at the moment which will mean less competition for at least some categories of workers, and therefore less upward pressure on employee compensation.

Job openings are expected to ease only marginally to 7.650 million in November from 7.774 million in October.

The Labor Department's JOLTS report tracks monthly change in job openings and offers rates on hiring and quits. The reporting period lags other employment data including the employment situation report. The word JOLTS stands for Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

Although lagging the release timing of the employment situation report by a month, JOLTS provides additional information on the labor market. The payroll survey in the employment situation report provides numbers on net job changes. JOLTS breaks down labor market data into pre-net changes such as job openings, hires, and separations.