The BLS released the JOLTS report for November 2023. Let’s take a look:
JOB OPENINGS AND LABOR TURNOVER – NOVEMBER 2023
The number of job openings changed little at 8.8 million on the last business day of November, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the month, the number of hires and total separations decreased to 5.5 million and 5.3 million, respectively. Within separations, quits (3.5 million) edged down and layoffs and discharges (1.5 million) changed little. This release includes estimates of the number and rate of job openings, hires, and separations for the total non-farm sector, by industry, and by establishment size class.
Job Openings
On the last business day of November, the number of job openings changed little at 8.8 million; this measure is down from a series high of 12.0 million in March 2022. The job openings rate was unchanged at 5.3 percent. Over the month, job openings decreased in transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-128,000) and in federal government (-58,000). Job openings increased in wholesale trade (+63,000). (See table 1.)
Hires
In November, the number of hires decreased to 5.5 million (-363,000). The hires rate was little changed at 3.5 percent. The number of hires decreased in professional and business services (-163,000).
With 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day and millennials and zoomers having fewer and fewer kids, we don’t see how the JOLTS report declines in any significant way over the next 7 years. We are on track to have all baby boomers be over the age of 65 by 2030. Virtually all the U.S. population future growth is coming from immigration and if that stops then we’ll have a huge deficit of workers in an already tight labor market.
Over the holidays we tasked the team here to tell us about their own demographic personal situation and we built this composite photo of what we think America looks like today. Many of the holiday gatherings consisted of many elderly and middle aged people, few teenagers and a few toddlers.
We continue to research investment opportunities to maximize our returns based on changing demographics in America and across the world so stay tuned, stay profitable and stay solvent…