JOLTS (job openings).
In plain English
JOLTS stands for the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, a Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of employers counting positions open at month end plus the flows in and out. The quits rate is watched closely, because people quit voluntarily when they are confident about finding something better. The ratio of openings to unemployed people shows how tight the market is. Layoffs and discharges track involuntary separations. JOLTS lags the monthly jobs report by about a month, so it fills in detail rather than breaking news.
01Why it matters
The quits rate tells you how much bargaining power workers have, which is a better read on whether asking for a raise is likely to land than the unemployment rate is.
02The math, step by step
Say there are 8 million openings and 6.4 million unemployed. The ratio is 8 divided by 6.4, or 1.25 openings per unemployed person. When that ratio falls below 1, job seekers outnumber postings and the market has loosened.
Illustrative example. The amounts here are hypothetical, chosen to show how the math works, not real quoted rates or figures.
03What this is NOT
The jobs report counts the net payroll change and the unemployment rate. JOLTS counts the gross flows underneath: how many people were hired, how many quit, how many were laid off. A month with zero net job growth can still involve millions of hires and separations.
04Receipts
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