August 13, 2025
Michigan’s job openings rate increased in May according to the latest release of the state Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). The layoffs/discharges rate was the only other metric to increase over this period. The hires rate, turnover rate, and unemployed persons to job openings ratio all declined in May, while the separations and quits rates stagnated.
Job openings grew by approximately 5,000 from April (227,000) to May (232,000). As a result, the job openings rate, a measure of job openings as a percentage of employment, increased to 4.9 percent (+0.1 percentage points). This was the fifth consecutive month of growth for the job openings rate. Michigan was above the national openings rate (4.6 percent) and registered the 23rd highest among other states.
Author:
Source: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
The
unemployed persons to job openings ratio fell to 1.19 in May. This marked the 13th
month in which this ratio exceeded 1.0 in Michigan, indicating that the number
of individuals available to work outpaced the number of available jobs for over
a year. Michigan recorded the sixth highest ratio among other states and
remained above the national ratio (0.93).
Michigan’s labor turnover rate, a combination of the separations and hires rates, declined to 7.4 percent (-0.8 percentage points). As a result, Michigan fell from the seventh highest among other states back in April to the 20th in May. Despite this decline, Michigan’s labor turnover rate remained well above the national rate (6.7 percent).
Approximately 160,000 individuals separated from their jobs in May, which was unchanged from the month prior. Due to this, the separations rate, a measure of separations as a percentage of employment, remained at 3.5 percent. Michigan was above the national rate of 3.3 percent and ranked 21st among other states.
Quits, a measure of voluntary separations, were similarly stagnant with roughly 105,000 in both April and May. Subsequently, the quits rate, a measure of quits as a percentage of employment, remained at 2.3 percent for the second consecutive month. Although the layoffs/discharges rate, a measure of involuntary separations, increased marginally to 1.1 percent during this time (+0.1 percentage points), total separations were ultimately unaffected and remained unchanged in May.
Michigan employers hired roughly 175,000 individuals in May, a substantial decrease from the month prior (212,000). As a result, the hires rate, a measure of hires as a percentage of employment, fell to 3.9 percent (-0.8 percent). Michigan was above the national hires rate despite this decline (3.4 percent). However, Michigan fell to the 16th highest among other states, a notable dip from the sixth highest in April.
Source: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
