March 06, 2025
Michigan’s job openings rate was down both in December as well as on average across 2024, according to the latest release of the state Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The separations rate, labor turnover rate, and layoffs/discharges rate similarly fell, while the quits rate increased, and the hires rate remained unchanged.
Job openings in Michigan fell to 198,000 in December (-12,000). This resulted in a 0.3 percentage point drop in the job openings rate, a measure of job openings as a percent of employment, to 4.2 percent. Michigan registered a 4.7 percent average annual job openings rate in 2024, with monthly job openings averaging 222,000. This was notably lower than the 2023 averages of 5.5 percent and 258,000, respectively. Michigan remained below the national openings rate in December and recorded the tenth lowest rate among states.
Source: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The unemployed persons to job openings ratio increased to 1.27 in December. This was the second consecutive month of growth in this ratio and the sixth month that it has been greater than one, indicating that there were more individuals available to work than there were job openings during this time. Michigan was third among states and was markedly higher than the national ratio of 0.91. Over the year, Michigan averaged a ratio of 0.98 in 2024, a large jump from the year prior (0.77).
Source: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Michigan’s labor turnover rate, a combination of the hires and separations rates, fell to 7.4 percent (-0.3 percentage points). This was above the national turnover rate in December (6.8 percent) and 21st among other states. On average, the labor turnover rate in Michigan was equal to that of the 2023 average at 6.8 percent.
There were approximately 1,000 more individuals hired in December (159,000) than November (158,000). Despite this marginal increase, the hires rate, a measure of hires as a percentage of employment, remained at 3.5 percent. Similar to the December rate, the average hires rate for 2024 remained unchanged from the 2023 average rate of 3.5 percent.
Approximately 12,000 less individuals were separated from their jobs in December (175,000) than the month prior (187,000). Subsequently, the separations rate, a measure of separations as a percentage of employment, fell to 3.9 percent (-0.3 percentage points). Over the year, Michigan averaged a separations rate of 3.3 percent, which was unchanged from the 2023 average.
The main factor in the decline in separations in December was a drop in layoffs/discharges, a measure of involuntary separations. The rate of layoff/discharges fell to 1.6 percent (-0.3 percentage points) as approximately 14,000 less individuals involuntarily separated from their jobs in December (73,000). The quits rate, a measure of quits as a percentage of employment and the other component of separations, grew marginally in December to 2.1 percent (+0.1 percentage points). Over the year, the quits rate averaged 2.0 percent, a small drop from the 2023 average (2.1 percent).
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