Below, EPI economists offer their initial insights on today’s release of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) for November. 

From EPI senior economist, Elise Gould (@eliselgould):

Read the full Twitter thread here.

Job openings fell between October and November 2021 by over a half million (-529k) to 10.6 million. The job openings rate fell to 6.6%, the lowest it’s been since June (but still historically high). The largest decrease in openings was in accommodation and food services (-261k). pic.twitter.com/3JdnM7uQBx

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) January 4, 2022

Hires are on an upswing as quits continue to rise. Workers appear confident to quit their jobs in search of better ones.

To be clear: these trends predate the rise in Omicron. pic.twitter.com/dI5AhGA8Tp

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) January 4, 2022

Accommodations and foods services continues to be a key sector to watch. While jobs openings decreased in November, hires held steady as quits continued to rise. Hiring remains higher than quits suggesting that some who quit may be finding better opportunities within the sector. pic.twitter.com/6PG8rAJrNr

— Elise Gould (@eliselgould) January 4, 2022

From EPI president, Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz):

Read the full Twitter thread here.

In the latest #JOLTS data, 4.5 million people quit, but *6.7 million* people were hired. People who quit are taking other jobs, not leaving the workforce. On net, the labor market is gaining a ton of jobs every month. 2/

— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) January 4, 2022

But the obligatory terrible note: today’s JOLTS data are November numbers, all this is pre-Omicron. 6/

— Heidi Shierholz (@hshierholz) January 4, 2022