The number of job openings fell 556,000 to 7.600 million in December after a small upward revision to 8.156 million in November. The December level is below the consensus of 8.000 million in the Econoday survey of forecasters. Job openings are down 548,000 in the private sector and 9,000 in government. Declines in job openings are widespread. In the service sector, there is a decrease of 225,000 in professional and business services that accounted for 41 percent of the drop, and another big decrease of 166,000 in financial activities. For goods-producers in December, construction job openings are down 55,000 and manufacturing 11,000 lower. The job openings rate is down to 4.5 in December.

The brief uptick in job openings in October and November faded sharply in December. Many businesses are uncertain about the near future with unknowns about taxes and the regulatory and supervisory conditions, as well as the availability of labor in a harsh environment for immigration. There is a clear paring back of hiring intentions, at least for now. On the other hand, while hiring has slowed it is not absent and plans to cut payrolls remain limited to a few sectors where restructuring is ongoing.

Hiring is up 89,000 in December to 5.462 million after 5.373 million in November. The level of hiring has been more-or-less steady in recent months. Private sector hiring is up 69,000 and government up 20,000 in December. The movement for most industries is small with overall gains more than offsetting losses. The hires rate is 3.4 in December, unchanged from the prior month.

Separations are up 38,000 in December to 5.269 million with 16,000 in private industries and 22,000 in government. On net, separations were more plentiful but not very high. The largest sector is 69,000 in professional and business services. The separations rate is steady at 3.3 in December from the prior three months.

The quits rate a subset of separations is up 67,000 in December to 3.197 million with 54,000 voluntary job leavers in the private sector and 13,000 in government. This suggests that much of the job separations increase is due to people moving between jobs by choice. The December separations rate is 2.0 in December, the same as in November.

Just when we thought conditions were finally easing up in the labor market, openings rose to a surprising 8.098 million in November from 7.839 million in October. Forecasters expect job openings pretty flat at 8.00 million in December. Openings were down at 7.372 million in September.

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.