August 05, 2024
The job openings rate stagnated in the May release of the state Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The hires rate, labor turnover rate, and layoffs/discharges rate along with the unemployed persons to job openings ratio all increased while the separations rate and quits rate fell.
Job openings in Michigan fell by approximately 3,000 from April (229,000) to May (226,000). Despite this decline, the job openings rate, a measure of job openings as a percentage of employment, remained flat at 4.8 percent for the second consecutive month. This was below the national rate at the time (4.9 percent).
The unemployed persons to job openings ratio ticked up, moving to 0.87 in May. Like the month prior, this indicated that there were nearly nine unemployed individuals per 10 job openings. This was above the national ratio in May (0.82) and was 10th highest among other states.
Source: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Labor turnover saw a notable jump from April to May, as the turnover rate (a combination of the hires and separations rate) grew from 6.5 percent to 7.1 percent. This jump moved Michigan above the national turnover rate (6.9 percent). Michigan continues to record some of the lowest levels of turnover despite this jump, at 17th lowest among states in May. The main driver of this jump was an increase in the hires rate, one of two components which combine to measure labor turnover.
Michigan employers hired 184,000 individuals in May, an increase of approximately 32,000 from April (152,000). This translated to a 0.7 percentage point jump in the hires rate (number of hires as a percentage of employment) to 4.1 percent. Michigan had the 18th highest hires rate among all states, a sharp jump from 40th in the month prior.
The separations rate (number of separations as a percentage of employment) fell marginally by 0.1 percentage points, dropping from 3.1 percent to 3.0 percent. This was due to the number of separations declining by approximately 6,000 from April (140,000) to May (134,000). Michigan had the third lowest separations rate of all states and fell below the national rate of 3.4 percent.
The decline in the separations rate was driven by a drop in the quits rate (number of quits as a percentage of employment), which fell by 0.1 percentage points to 1.9 percent. Conversely, the layoffs/discharges rate (number of layoffs/discharges as a percentage of employment) increased by 0.1 percentage point to 0.9 percent.
Source: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
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